Changing History
by x-Angelic-Demon-x
Summary: Percy and the gang just can't get over the death's of their friends, so they hitch a plan to change their fates for the better - a series of books are given to the gods, which will open their eyes to a demigods true suffering: is it too late for change?
1. Back to Before

_**Disclaimer**__**: Sadly the novel and it's character's do not belong to me, but to the fabulous Rick Riordan**_

_**A.N**_

_**Okay, I know there's quite a lot of fan fictions already out there with this sort of idea, but most of them are left unfinished and that left me slightly frustrated and wondering why the majority didn't carry on beyond the first book. It also left me inspired to attempt something similar, to see how much work it really takes to do something like this.**_

_**With this in mind, I thought up a plausible plot (a bit far-fetched, but how can it not be?) and started writing away- wish me luck guys **_____

_**Without further a due, enjoy! **_

**Chapter 1 = Back to Before**

(The story takes place back in Camp a few days after Percy turned down the offer of immortality, where the Gods have declared and planned multiple celebration activities for having won the war against the Titans.)

The striking sun pierced the harsh grey clouds and filled the glorious sky, turning everything a gilded gold and a brilliant white. The ocean's wave rolled and bubbled merrily, dancing teasingly along the sandy shore as the carefree children ran and splashed amongst it. From afar the naiad's songs could be heard over the sudden growth of new and vibrant plants, over the children's tears and Satyr's laughter.

And it was all fake.

Sitting further away, amongst some large boulders and the shady trees, were the heroic five – the five who had fought hard and battled endlessly and fearlessly for this peaceful time. Who had strived for change and contact between the Gods and their children. Now seeing their hopes and wishes – that had looked almost impossible to reach during the past couple of days – finally become a reality, Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Grover and Thalia sat alone and amongst the cooling shadows, looking utterly miserable.

"Come on guys," Conner approached them, "Cheer up – we won already!" He gestured towards his brothers, who were waiting anxiously for him a few paces back. "D'you want to come play with us? We promise to play fair," he smirked, "you guys really shouldn't be sitting here looking that gloomy on a day like this- well, maybe except you Nico," he joked lightly earning a half smile from the pale boys face.

"No, I'm fine here, thanks. I'm not in the mood for celebrating," Thalia declared, as the others silently nodded their agreements.

"Have fun though," Annanbeth called, as she watched the brothers walk away, chatting merrily.

"You too!"

The group once again lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

"So," Percy tried tiredly, "we won, huh?"

"Bested the Titan army and the Titans themselves," Annabeth agreed.

"Received a huge applause from the major Gods for our work," Thalia continued.

"Actually got them to agree to claim and occasionally visit their children," Percy murmured.

"Now they're celebrating their victory on Olympus," Thalia stated, referring to the lack of her leader by her, and the other hunters, sides.

"Throwing huge parties and events: we're even invited to most of them. Not including the new annual parent's day that's now being held once a month."

"We should be happy," Grover agreed.

"Too bad so many had to die for this to even happen though," Nico replied sullenly. "If the Gods had just changed their ways before hand, this would never have had to happen."

The silence continued.

"I just feel they're being forgotten," Percy said, "Like the God's are trying to move on so quickly, while trying to paint a nice bright picture of life: it just seems that their deaths didn't happen and that nobody cared about them, even the campers." 

"Not me, Prissy," Clarisse said darkly, walking towards them, spear in hand. "The other's here may want to go with the flow and try to move on with their lives, but I can't." She leaned against an oak, arms crossed, the end of her spear tangling harmlessly behind Grover's back. "I can't forget the people who gave their lives to save us all. Silena and Beckendorf, even Chris lost his mind, if only temporarily."

"Bianca," Nico muttered sadly.

"Zoe," Thalia whispered.

"Luke," Annabeth cried, silently.

"Pan!" Grover wailed, "and so many nature spirits lost!" Being closest, Clarisse slowly dropped her spear, and, awkwardly, attempted to comfort him – the others staring at her, surprised by the kind gesture.

"Castor," Percy mentioned, seeing Pollux walk gloomily and alone towards the strawberry fields, "Ethan, and loads more like him who went without proper care for so long. I know the Gods are doing something about it now, and they really want to change things – to make them better – but…"

"It's still too late," Thalia finished.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Annabeth wondered.

"What can we do?" Nico replied moodily. "The damage has been done. We can't change the past."

"Says who?" Annabeth inquired.

"What do you mean? It's just impossible!"

"Haven't you learnt yet, Nico, that nothing is impossible?"

"Where's she going with this?" Percy whispered in Thalia's ear.

"I think I know," she replied, concentrating her gaze on Annabeth.

"Look," Nico tried to reason with her, "it's not like we can just zap ourselves into the past and into the throne room and tell the Gods to change their act or a lot of innocent people will die. It just can't be done!"

"For one," Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, replied smugly, "Kronos had power over time to do whatever he liked. Another fact is, although it's very rarely mentioned in ancient texts, there has been examples of other demigods time travelling too, although it has to be at a god's consent."

"Ha," Nico counteracted, "even if it's for a good cause, Zeus will never allow it. Remember what Hermes said to you, Percy? That no one can tamper with fate: that events will turn out a lot worse if you do."

"But we can't just sit back and do nothing!" Clarisse argued, eyes blazing angrily. "If there's a chance to save them and save Olympus, we have to try. We owe them."

"As much as I hate to say this," Percy said looking directly at the fierce girl opposite him, "but I agree with Clarisse. We're gonna have to try."

_**(A.N. I was going to leave it here, but I want the preparation part for this story finished in one chapter, so I can actually work from the book in the next, so it's your lucky day.)**_

Immediately after Percy's declaration, dinner was announced, where the group slowly went to take up their usual places at their tables - Clarisse giving a final stern this-isn't-over-yet glare before sitting amongst her siblings.

It was a very uneventful and frustrating time, the majority of it was spent with each member of the newly formed group attempting to communicate to each other silently with sign language and ending up in total confusion. However, towards the end of the meal, Chiron appeared, calling for everyone's sudden attention.

"Campers," he announced, "we have yet another new member joining us this evening"-heartily cheers erupted on all sides, causing the centaur to grin at the force of it. "This," he said, referring to the boy besides him, "is Richard Riordan, or Rick, as he prefers to be known. He is the son of Athena"- more cheers erupted at the mention of being claimed- "and I expect you to make him feel welcome and at home." Gently, he guided him to the Athena table, placing him by Annabeth. "Will you be kind enough, child, to look after him for a few days until he finds his feet?"

"I'd be happy to, Chiron," she replied, immediately gaining a smile from the young boys face.

Nodding his thanks he trotted slowly back to the main table. "Now, seeing as you've finished your meal, let's all go to the campfire for some good humoured entertainment!"

As the rest of the campers made their way to the campfire, Annabeth and the others stayed behind.

"Hey Rick, I'm Percy," Percy greeted the shy boy, and after introducing him to everyone he asked, "how are you liking it here so far?"

Rick smiled warmly, "It's unbelievable. I can't believe this is all true, especially when I heard about what's been happening recently. I don't know what to make of it all yet."

"Don't worry," Grover said, munching on an apple, "this place will soon feel at home, and you'll enjoy all the fun activities that's been lined up for this year."

"Hey," Nico interrupted suddenly, eyes widening, "aren't you the child genius, Richard Riordan, who's published like a gazillion books, including the Tres Navarre mystery?"

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't a gazillion books…."

"You're famous?" Annabeth inquired glancing down at the blushing boy.

"Not really-"

"-he's amazing Annabeth," Nico went on, "I'm not surprised he's the son of Athena – definitely got the brain for it. When he writes, he captures everything so perfectly and believable, you can't help but like it!"

"Hey, wouldn't it be cool then if he wrote a book about us?" Thalia grinned.

"Thals," Annabeth groaned, "he's just got here! So can you show a little more respect to-Yes! That's it!"

"Huh?" Percy aksed, confused by the sudden enthusiasm in her voice.

"What's it?" Grover wondered, trying to catch up to her train of thought.

"Urgh," Clarisse sighed at the confused look of the boy's faces. "And you say that I'm dumb."

Thalia just grinned at Annabeth, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Annabeth smiled, "Hopefully."

Rick just looked completely lost. "Um, what's going on?"

"Richard," Annabeth started-

"Rick!" he corrected irritably, "Richard is so old fashioned."

"Rick," she apologised, "I'll tell you in a minute." She turned to face Percy and Grover. "Don't you guys see that Rick's skills are the best chance for our plan to work? Zeus has banned demigods time travelling as that's how the god's used to weaken each other in the old days, by spying or even assassinating others in their camp. But we're not going to time travel to the past- well, at least not if we don't have to, as Rick's writing skills will deliver our message for us."

"What she means," Thalia continued, as Annabeth quickly began to fill in her new sibling "is, if we ask Rick to write about our lives over the last couple of years, including the death's and suffering we've gone through in such a realistic way, hopefully the god's will be moved enough to change then and there."

"Um," Richard started, "it seems like a good idea, but I can't write about all of you- the story would just get too complicated with all the different perspectives. I just need one person who's been through or heard of the events mentioned – a main character."

"Then it should be Percy," Nico said automatically, "after all he's the hero of Olympus and all that. And he's always been at the centre of all the chaos."

The others agreed, Annabeth a little sullenly, as Percy asked. "Okay, so you're going to write the story by what I tell you, right?"

"Hell no," Rick snorted, "I myself can't actually write this. It has to be in your point of view or it won't have the realistic view you need to get your message across. I'll just advise you about the structure and technique stuff, like what to put it and what not to."

"…Right. Okay," Percy said sadly, looking in despair at all the extra work he'd have to do.

"One question," Nico asked Annabeth, ignoring Percy's reluctance. "How do we actually send the book, once it's written back through time?"

"Well," she started, "we still need one of the god's help to do that, but luckily we wouldn't need to go straight to Zeus to get permission, as we would have needed if we ourselves wanted to time jump. I'm not quite sure after we get a god on our side how the actual time travel is done- but once we get to that point we don't need to worry about it- the god takes over from there."

"But if Zeus has banned time jumping, how are you going to get another god to go against him?" Nico asked. "I know they go behind his back for little things, but I can never imagine one of them agreeing to this."

"We just have to ask the god who wants it enough," Percy said, thinking about Hermes and Luke. "Hermes would probably do anything to get a chance to be with Luke and show him proper love. And even though it's going against Zeus's order, by us not going ourselves we don't risk making things worse than they are."

"And since he's the messenger god," Thalia finished, "it's also very fitting. All he needs to do is just deliver the package we give him, and although it's for a different time, he'll deliver it on time—this is so confusing!"

"Okay," Annabeth listed, "so here's the plan so far. In order to try to save our friends, who gave their lives for us, we are going to get Hermes to send a written autobiography of Percy's adventures to the gods in the past for them to realise what they're doing wrong and for them to change their acts before it's too late."

"That's about right," Thalia agreed, relieved.

"Now, what time in the past shall we send the package? Obviously we'll send it to the throne room addressed to all the gods," Rick asked them. "But do we send it before Percy's born or not"

"It should be after Percy's born," Clarisse noted, "because they might not believe the story without the actual characters in the book to back it up."

"I also think it needs to be after they find out about Thalia being the daughter of Zeus, or Zeus will lose his temper even more than he will when he finds out Poseidon broke the oath."

"Then I say he should be around 6-10 years old, but we'll decide on an actual date when the book's finished."

"We're really going to do this, aren't we?" Nico grinned childishly. "I could really have Bianca back?"

"We could have everyone back," Thalia whispered.

Clarisse suddenly ran into the direction of her cabin, returning suddenly after a moment with numerous pens and a mountain of paper. She thrust the papers violently into Percy's face, dropped the pens at his feet and with a menacing voice –second only to her father's- she shouted, "Start writing!"

_**(A.N. There you have it- the characters of the future are attempting to change the past for the better. Poor naïve children, do you think that all will go as planned? The next set of chapters will be the gods receiving the books and their reaction to it. I'm not sure if I'll bring the future characters in or not – depends how much the book teaches them or how impatient the future characters are.)**_

_**Reviews are always welcomed, where I love to hear your opinions and ideas.**_

_**Thanks for reading **_


	2. Signed, Sealed, Delivered

_**(A.N. Awww, thanks for the reviews guys! This is only my third fan fiction, and the number of reviews I had yesterday really touched me **____** So your gift is another chapter.**_

_**Okay, for this story's plot I think I need to write a bit more from the future characters – so I either had the choice of adding the actual sending of the package now, or little by little at the top of every chapter, like a flashback (or future back?). I decided on the first as I didn't want to confuse anyone. Then, in a couple of chapters I might refer to them, see how their future is coming along or bring them into the past.**_

_**I know I'm probably going on a bit here, but before I start writing, I like to write some ideas at the top if the page for me to look back on –as I find it helps to keep track of things as you go along. So, without further a due: **_

_**Enjoy! :D)**_

**Chapter 2 = ~Signed, Sealed, Delivered~**

(A couple of weeks later – the future characters are at the same spot where we found them at the beginning, and have gathered together immediately after dinner.)

"There, finished!" Percy sighed, lying down on the darkening grass, massaging his aching hands. Closing his eyes, he was asleep in seconds.

"Wow," Clarisse muttered, looking down on the exhausted boy, "I never knew he had it in him. Five whole novels written in three and a half weeks - unbelievable!"

"Not that unbelievable," Thalia snorted, staring at Richard, who had collapsed next to Percy, equally exhausted, "Rick did most of the work. All Percy had to do was remember the events and write down what Rick told him to."

"Look at this structure," Annabeth stared into the book in disgust, "The Vice-principal Gets a Missile Launcher"…."Everyone Hates Me but the Horse"…. "I Go Snowboarding with a Pig!" These books are supposed to be written in a tragic style to get the gods to empathise and feel sorry for us to get them to help, not a comedy! They'll think we're just stupid kids!"

Rick sighed in frustration before slowly sitting up to glare in Annabeth's direction. "I could have told Percy to write his story in tragedy style, but that's just not how his mind works. He's an optimist, who tries to make fun of and see the good side of life, if only to try to make things better. _That's_ how his mind works. If I changed that, the chances are high that the gods would just get bored of the book after a while and toss it aside, because they're used to miserable demigods whining and complaining of their fate and suffering. But Percy's attitude to things is so opposite – something so new and fresh- to how most people would react, that the gods will be interested and hooked in it: making them more willing to take the message of change seriously." He stopped to take a breath, long enough to see Annabeth nodding her approval slowly.

"Besides," he continued, "the writing style has to be simple, for our message to be clear. And so that the gods who aren't keen on reading will find it easy to follow and more interesting so they'll pay attention," he concluded, referring mainly to the male gods such as Hermes, Apollo and Ares.

Nico grinned, "I like it. The books sound like an exact clone of Percy and it's really vivid and believable – I really think it'll work."

"Me too," Grover agreed, while munching on an orange.

"And if not," Clarisse continued, "We'll just have to go over there and crash some heads."

Everyone cheered gleefully, except Annabeth who smiled tightly, unwilling to admit how close to impossible their plan was going to be if the books failed.

"So," Percy yawned, unable to sleep with all the commotion erupting around him. "What do we do now? Should we call for Hermes?"

"I think," Annabeth said hurriedly, "we should write the note and address down first, as we don't want to give Hermes any excuse not to do this."

Nico scooped all five books into the large but normal looking size envelope and handed it to Clarisse who, pen in hand, continued to write the address onto it. "What time shall I say on it, for Hermes to know exactly when and where to post it?"

"I'd say when Percy's about nine," Grover said, "after Thalia's...incident, but a couple of years before him knowing about everything so they'll think of him as a child. I don't think it matters what day."

"And who shall we say it's for?" Rick asked.

"Well, all the gods for a start," Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"And it would probably be good if Chiron was there too," Annabeth added as she watched Clarisse quickly scribble them down. "I can't think who else should be there."

"Should we invite Minnie me and mum to be there?" Percy asked suddenly, "for further proof?"

"Somehow," Grover murmured, "I don't think that would be the best of plans."

"Especially when dad will lose his temper when he finds out about you," Thalia added, "he might kill you accidentally and make the future a hell of a lot worse, like Hermes was scared of."

"Okay it's decided then," Annabeth said firmly, "all the major gods plus Chiron."

"What should we include on the note?" Nico asked, as Clarisse finished with the envelope and handed it to Rick with her pen.

"How about something like 'Hey, we're your kids from the future writing to you guys in the past to ask you to stop ignoring us and making us miserable as it'll result in a massive war where a lot of good kids will die. Yours sincerely, the Heroes of Olympus xxx`" Clarisse said smiling proudly.

Annabeth and Rick could only stare in shock at the fierce girl. "Yeah," Annabeth said, "something like that…"

"What about we write one message at the beginning and one message at the end when they've finished the books," Rick suggested. "The first one will be a vague introduction, so it won't spoil anything for them, but the second one will be very deep and cutting, so it'll hit the message home to them."

"Excellent bro," Annabeth high-fived him happily, before seeing Clarisse's hurtful look. "And you two, Clarisse…high-five?" she added sheepishly, her hands raised high above her head, whereas Clarisse simply stared at her, her eyes smouldering red, until she was forced to put her hands down out of sheer embarrassment.

"Right," Thalia grinned at her friend, "Grover, you wait here with Rick to finish the note. The rest of us will find some drachma's to contact Hermes."

(The scene changes to Hermes' palace on Olympus. We see him in his private lounge, attempting to relax and pull himself together after the death of his favourite son.)

The tired god lay upon the sleek Victorian couch in solitude, eyes constantly fixed on the ceiling in silent despair. The other gods had been so kind and understanding towards him over the last few days, even giving him two weeks vacation from his busy job: a thing he'd always yearned for yet never seemed to get. Now though, he'd do anything to keep himself busy, anything to try to forget and put this painful experience behind him. But most importantly, he'd give anything to have Luke back, to have him by his side: to be finally given the opportunity to shower him with love, affection and comfort.

_But it's too late_, a voice whispered sadly. _He's gone._

_You'll never see him again._

He sat up slowly, only to close his eyes and put his head in his hands, _I know_, he whispered tearfully.

With a small sigh, he was about to get up, when another of Iris's rainbows appeared before him.

"Who wants me now?" he asked irritably, changing his clothing instantly to a more appropriate design.

"A group of young demigods," she said gently, "who acknowledge your suffering and wish to ease it."

"Well," he cut in shortly, "they can't. But just out of curiosity, who are these demigods you mention?"

"My lord," she curtsied, "the heroes I speak of are none other than Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and Hero of Olympus, and his friends: Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus, Nico di Angelino, the son of Hades, Clarisse…"

"Yes, yes, I get the picture-" Hermes interrupted as she carried on regardless.

"…And Richard Riordan, son of Athena," she finished, glaring somewhat at being interrupted.

"Percy Jackson…" Hermes wondered, deep in thought.

"Do I give them permission to contact you, my Lord?" she asked again.

"Better yet, I shall bring them here." With that he closed his eyes and concentrated firmly for a moment or two. When his eyes reopened, he saw the group lying on the floor, flopping like fishing on dry land, in confusion over what just happened.

As soon as they saw the god, standing irritably in the centre of the room, they stood up quickly and bowed deeply in respect and as a piece offering.

"Lord Hermes," Annabeth started, but was silenced by the rise of the gods hand, calling for silence.

"Now," he demanded, striding closer to the huddled group who by now looking more than slightly anxious, "there had better be a good for you disturbing me on my day off."

_**(A.N. another break –as I didn't think you'd want to hear them explaining what they were going to do AGAIN, so I've fast-forwarded it to just after they've told Hermes their plan.)**_

"So you see, Lord Hermes," Percy concluded, "even though it's technically going against the rules, it's not hurting anybody, and it's for a good reason. We could bring them back."

Hermes could just stare at them, shocked by what he'd just heard. "What do you mean it won't hurt anybody? There's no guarantee of anything when you mess with the past. For example in trying to save somebody you risk the life of somebody else. Tell me Percy Jackson, would you risk your own life being worsened or even destroyed to save the life of another?"

"Yes," he answered, almost stunned that the god could ask such a stupid question, "if I have the power to save others as well as the world, believe me, I'll take it."

"Ah, but that's easy for you to say, of course, as your fatal flaw is intense loyalty. But what about your Annabeth? Would she risk your life to save another?"

After a few minutes, she answered very quietly, but firmly, "I'd suffer more knowing that there was something I could have done to save the friends who gave their lives for us. I love Percy, but I just can't ignore this opportunity –none of us can," she added, as the others nodded solemnly.

"Ah," Hermes warned. "But that's not all changing the past can do. It could change all your relationships- even your personalities, especially if you're seriously planning to get us gods to change our ways and spend more time amongst you. For example, you and Percy, Annabeth, could end up being feuding rivals rather than a couple. Are you all willing to change everything you know to save people that are already dead?"

Gulping violently, they all looked at each other grimly for a few moments, before returning their gaze to the impatient god.

"We will," replied Percy, bravely, "as they deserve to be here, by our side, to experience all that we've fought for and won."

"Well then," Hermes concluded, with his well known playful smirk, "What are we waiting for?"

Reaching for the package in Rick's sweaty palms, he murmured a few words- that were low toned and filled with magic- and strode slowly over to the gilded mail slot that stood tall and grand on the wall opposite the enormous balcony. Breathing in slowly, once, twice, and on the third time he said adieu before letting it disappear into the dark void of time.

Turning back slowly and triumphantly to meet the hopeful gazes of the demigods below, he smiled: bright and white and wide, at them, before sending them the three words they so desperately needed to hear.

"It is done."

_Luke, I'm coming. I'll never let you down again!_

_**(A.N—and cut! So next chapter we'll start off immediately in the past with the package. Woop woop! This is going better than I thought- two chapters in two days! That'll show you! I know I didn't spend that much time on Hermes there, but I really wanted to move on with the story, so I said just enough to make it plausible. Hermes is risking everything they've gained to save everyone they love…. But will it work?**_

_**Wait and see….)**_


	3. Intriguing Insolence and Integrity

_**(A.N. Thanks for the support you've given me to do this. I feel like I'm really on a roll now! **_

_**Okay, in this part we're in the past (finally!) and we see the gods get the package. I know I didn't explain it very well in the chapter, but the mail slot that was in Hermes's room was his personal enchanted one. I.e. when anyone wants to deliver something they usually give it to him to deliver it, but when he wants to deliver something for himself or to another time but can't be bothered to go himself, he sends it via this mail slot which sends it instantly to any address: and yes, even to the past.**_

_**I might start the actual reading from the first book in this chapter, it depends how long the setup will be. Thanks again for sticking with me: and without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy! **____**)**_

**Chapter 3- Intriguing Insolence and Integrity **

**(The scene takes place in the throne room- where Zeus, Athena, Ares, Demeter and Artemis have been stuck in the there for the last 17 hours with nothing to do)**

Ares' sigh of boredom echoed loudly through the throne room that early morning, earning him a frightening glare from Zeus, and a slight chuckle from Demeter, who was knitting quietly upon her throne.

"But I'm so bored," he complained to his father. "We've just been sitting here for days with nothing to do!"

"Then occupy yourself appropriately like your sisters," he hissed, referring to Athena, who was lost –once again!- in the latest intellectual gaming craze of the age and to Artemis, who was polishing her bow to perfection. "Even Demeter's keeping herself busy!"

"Pfft!" scoffed Ares, "For one, Athena's just a freaky suck-up know-it-all who loves doing dull and boring things," he stated as she lifted her head in exasperation from her game to glare at her dopey brother. "Plus," he said hurriedly, moving quickly on, "Demeter and Artemis are just as bored as I am: it's just that I'm honest about it! Dem, you hate knitting- especially this early in the morning! And Artemis, you've been polishing that bow for 5 and a half hours!—I really think it's as good as it's going to get!"

Demeter and Artemis tossed away their items glumly. "What do you suggest we do then?" Demeter asked, as Hestia suddenly came to view besides the blazing hearth.

"I don't know! Talk, play, wrestle- something interesting besides just sitting here waiting for something to happen."

"I'm not in the mood for talking," Zeus growled angrily, lost in thought.

"Dad," Athena said gently, also discarding her game, "it's been two months since Thalia's transformation, but you have to try to move on…"

"How can I?" he sighed, turning his head towards his favourite daughter. "For all your wisdom you don't understand how I feel."

"Then tell me," she said simply. "Her accident must be hard for you, seeing as it's the first time you've sired a child in a long time, making her appear special and even more magical to you. You're not used to dealing with having to watch them die."

"She will probably be the last child I sire also," he said sullenly, "because of that blasted oath!" He calmed down slowly, "it is easier for the rest of you; you have handfuls of children to compensate and comfort you if one dies. I haven't got the luxury."

"You have us, father," Artemis said, leaning forward in her throne, "though I hear it's not quite the same as having a demigod child: I can say with a level of certainty that we shall never leave your side- no matter how much you'd want us to some times."

Zeus smiled at that, and was about to say more when a glorious light shone in the middle of the room, with big bold letters appearing above it, spelling out: "delivery." As it faded, a normal looking package was left floating in its place.

Athena slowly got up and reached for the package. Slowly, she read out the scribble on the envelope:

"**Dear Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Persephone, Hestia, Demeter, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysus and Chiron.**

**Mount Olympus,**

**600****th**** Floor,**

**Empire State building,**

**New York, NY,**

"with today's date and time written on the end of it," she finished, walking forward to stand in front of her father, "how very peculiar. What do you wish we do with this, father?"

He sat in thought for a moment, before sitting up straight in his chair and declaring loudly, "What we must. We shall summon the people mentioned on this letter to be present and will open it then."

"Finally," Ares chuckled, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "Now the fun begins!"

….

**(The scene now jumps to when the gods are gathered together…ooh, plus Chiron = he must be so confused being singled out like that :D)**

As the Olympians finally gathered, they went to sit upon their thrones, where Hestia cuddled up by the fire, Hades and Persephone sat upon make shift seats next to his brothers and Chiron took upon his human disguise to sit in his wheel-chair.

"I swear," Hermes stressed, face flushed at having to explain once again to the others, "it wasn't me who sent this: so I have no idea what's in it."

"Well," Athena said, calculatingly, "that _is_ odd."

"Okay people," Zeus called. "We shall begin. Who wishes to open the package?"

Immediately hands went up: with Ares, Apollo and Hermes all shouting, "Me, me, me!"

"Dionysus," Zeus decided, glaring at the wine god who was currently drifting off to sleep, not appearing to care at all about the package. When his name was called he had an odd moment of looking around the room in confusion before meeting Zeus' frowning face, "you will give us this honour, seeing as you need something to do to keep yourself awake."

Ares and Apollo sniggered quietly, earning a death glare from the moody god.

"Fine," Dionysus huffed, before grabbing the package and tearing off the seal. "Well," he started, reaching in, "the first thing that's in here is this note:

"**Olympians,**

**This is the first of two notes you will receive, along with a series of books**…."

"Books?" Ares, Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite and Persephone all groaned.

"Books?" Athena said ecstatically, "How lovely!" Which earned another groan throughout the room.

"…**along with a series of books**," Dionysus continued, glaring at his siblings, "**that will hopefully, by the end, teach you a thing or two about life.**

"**In truth, we're a group of demigods**," which raised numerous eyebrows throughout the room, "**writing from the future…"**

"The future!" Zeus raged, making everyone jump, "That's completely forbidden!"

"Brother!" Poseidon interrupted, causing Aphrodite and Demeter to jump violently in surprise. "For all you know you sent them back to us to give us this, so do not judge their motives before you know more about them!"

Right," Dionysus hissed, recapturing the room's attention, "if one more person interrupts me I will burn these books and that will be that!" Noting everyone's silence, he carried on. **"In truth, we're a group of demigods writing from the future- just a couple of years in the future might I add!- to try to help make life better for us all. **

"**We won't reveal anything more in this first note, as we're anxious for you to get on to reading of our past – your future's- experiences. What we will say is this: everything mentioned in this book is true. When you've finished reading these books, there will be a final note revealing all. **

"**Hopefully," **it concluded**, "by that time you wouldn't really need the final note to make a difference: you could try to do it on your own. **

**Sincerely, a group of future demigods hoping to make a difference." **

"Well," Hera said, "I guess we'd better read it, seeing as how these demigods speak of helping us all and not just their parent gods."

"Oww," Apollo groaned glumly, "I really want to hear what they have to say, but why put it all in book form! I can't stand them! Why couldn't they make a film, or at least a documentary?"

"They didn't have to make anything at all," Artemis smirked at her brother's laziness, "but they did, and whatever these books may reveal, we should admire them for their effort. I say we shall read them with an open mind, anyone with me?"

The decision was unanimous in her favour, though some were more ecstatic than others, ranging from Athena and Hestia's triumphant laughter to the male's growing despair.

"Let's just pray to ourselves they aren't that big," Apollo muttered.

"And pray that you or Ares was the father of the child that actually wrote the book, so that it'll be easy to read with big letters and lots of pictures," Hermes added, as Apollo laughed in agreement before realising the insult and counteracting brilliantly with –"Hey!"

"Well," Hera said, reaching for the package. "Let's see." She slowly got the first book out, "it says it is written by **Rick Riordan**.'" She slowly passed the book around for everyone to see.

"Pretty good artwork," Hephaestus murmured passing the book on, "but no-where near my children's standards."

"Nor mine," Demeter sighed.

"Or mine," Aphrodite dismissed, "too gruesome – not enough happy colours."

"Ricky?" Athena gasped in surprise, grabbing the book and staring at it in amazement, "as in my baby Ricky?"

"It could very well be," Hera said kindly.

"Aww," Ares groaned loudly, slumping into his throne, "the book is going to be so boring! I bet most of it's filled with numbers and triangles!"

"I feel your pain, darling," Aphrodite sulked, blowing him an air kiss from across the room.

"What's the book called?" Hades asked, wrapping his arms around his wife in comfort.

"It's called," Athena read, "**Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief**."

Poseidon suddenly jumped upright in his chair and fought fiercely to keep his expression of horror from entering his face. _His son? _ Zeus was going to have a fit if he hears this now! _Maybe he should tell Zeus now and get it over with…._

"Someone steals my lightening bolt!" Zeus hollered, losing his temper instantly. "When? Who dares? I will have their heads!"

…_or maybe not_….

"Brother!" Hades attempted to calm him. "Remember, it hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure the book will tell us the culprits name when we come to it. Now," he addressed the room sternly, "who wants to get this over with and read the first chapter?"

"I think Chiron should," Hera replied, reaching for the book, "after all, we need somebody sensible and mature to read the first chapter to avoid irrational outburst and unnecessarily delays."

"That's what she thinks," Ares whispered to Apollo, as Hermes laughed quietly and handed out high fives.

"Sounds like a plan, dude," Apollo agreed, grinning happily.

"SILENCE!"

The trio gulped simultaneously.

"Now," Hera ordered, thrusting the book into the centaur's hands. "Read."

_**(A.N. and that's the setup! Now wondering how I'll develop my plot. I know what I'm doing in the ends, but that's just so far away and I want something else to happen before that. Reader's ideas and suggestions are always welcomed. Thanks again for the support and I'll be back soon!)**_

_**T.T.F.N.**_


	4. Vaporizing maths Teachers!

_**(A.N. And here we go! One thing I think I'll note before moving on is I forgot to take into consideration the size of the gods: that they're giants compared to little tiny Chiron in their giant seats. So I could either make up another magical rule where the books automatically shrink or grow depending on the reader, or I could simply choose to make the gods and their thrones appear normal sized (by human measures): because they don't need to show off their strength to anyone and out of respect for the man who's always been there for their children. (So I've gone with the second option.)**_

_**Thanks for your lovely reviews – they are appreciated.**_

_**Now, without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy)**_

_**Chapter 4**__** = I accidentally **__**Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher (or maths teacher as it says in the UK version.)**_

"Right," Chiron started, his head already sinking and disappearing entirely into the book. "Well look at this!" he exclaimed, surprised, causing the others to listen attentively in interest "there's no acknowledgments or publication dates that regular books have in the first few pages: it just goes straight to the point! I wonder…"

"Right, right," Dionysus said, as everyone groaned at the centaur's lack of concentration span, "so take a hint from it and start reading the story!"

Chiron actually managed to look hurt by the comment. Slightly ruffled, he continued, "The first chapter is called, "_**I accidentally **__**Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher."**_

"That's more like it!" Ares grinned, chuffed with the promise of action.

"Woop woop!" Apollo cheered.

"I like this kid already," Hermes agreed.

"I'd like to point out that how can you accidentally vaporize someone?" Demeter asked, "I mean, come on!"

"Totally unrealistic," Persephone agreed with her mother.

"Well," Athena counteracted, once again lost in thought. "Although it's highly unlikely, it is still possible to accomplish. A likely scenario where this could occur would be…"

"Start reading, Chiron!" Hermes begged, on, what he was sure of, behalf of the whole group.

"Right," Chiron repeated. "Here we go:

"**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood"**

"Aw," Persephone said moodily, "get a grip, it's not that bad. Why do they always have to complain all the time?"

"Pers," Hades murmured stroking her hair, "Yes, it kind of is that bad. Even I – the Lord of the Underworld- have lost count of the total number of children who've died a horrible death because of it."

"Like my daughter," Zeus hissed, glaring at his brother in hatred. "You had no right to try to kill her! She was innocent!"

"I had every right!" Hades argued, but upon seeing Zeus raw, uncontrollable grief, he attempted to recollect and gain control of himself. "Or I thought I did at the time," he amended. "I was angry at finding out you broke the oath the three of us made together. So angry at you, in fact, that I wasn't thinking straight. I know children don't deserve to be punished for their parent's mistakes, and I deeply regret my rash actions now, but there's nothing that can be done about it now.

"And Thalia is not dead yet," Hades added, "there's still a chance that one day she will return to her mortal state."

"Until then," Demeter said while munching on some green and lilac grapes she'd previously conjured up, "she stands tall and proud protecting our other children. And for this, brother, we could never be more grateful: to both you and your daughter." A chorus of heartfelt agreements swept the room in seconds.

Numerous emotions were suddenly darting through Zeus' mind- ranging from sadness to happiness, to comfort to despair – and all were too fast to follow. After a few minutes of silence, he allowed himself to relax once more in the presence of his family, before turning to look at Chiron, who sat the furthest from him. "Continue," he declared, formally.

"I**f you're reading this because you think you may be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life."**

"Okay," Hephaestus commented. "If this demigod knew he/she was writing to us gods to warn us against future course of action, why would he/she refer to us as if we might be mortal?"

"Um, because they might think it's cooler to write it like this?" Aphrodite suggested, smiling in distaste at her unpleasant-to-look-at husband.

"Or," Athena started, "most likely he's treating us as if we're mortal so he can fill us in on things in a more clear way."

"Huh?" a few people said.

"It's better for him to treat us as if we're a blank canvas needing to be filled in, rather than all powerful gods who know everything. This way he'll explain everything in detail and won't leave anything important out."

"Ahhhh," the gods and goddesses relaxed back into their seats as Chiron began reading again.

"**Being a half-blood is dangerous."**

"Well duh!" Dionysus commented, rolling his eyes.

"**It's scary."**

"Wimp!" Ares chuckled, earning a glare from almost everyone in the room.

"**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."**

"Urgh," Aphrodite said, "I could have done without that visual!"

Artemis knocked an arrow at her. "Show some respect! They give their lives for us and for the sake of the world on a daily basis: the very least we can do is to honour them and to treat them with respect for this!"

Aphrodite and Ares had the decency to appear ashamed, and upon seeing their guilty faces, Artemis smiled grimly at Chiron to continue.

"**If you're a normal kid reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened."**

"Poor child," Artemis whispered, as Poseidon and the other goddesses nodded empathetically. "What horrors he must have gone through in his lifetime."

Hestia and Aphrodite started crying on his behalf, earning a look of distaste from Dionysus and Ares.

"**But if you recognize yourself in these pages - if you feel something stirring inside - close the book immediately."**

"Okay!" Apollo joked, reaching over to attempt to close the book in Chiron's hands, which earned him a beating from those nearest to him. "Ow!" he protested, glaring at his twin, "I was only joking!"

"Sure you were," she replied sweetly.

"**You might be one of us.** **And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they **_**sense it too. Don't say I didn't warn you."**

"Wwww," said Ares in a mocking tone, "I'm so scared!"

"Do you want me to punish you like I did to Apollo and Aphrodite?" Artemis growled, reaching once again for her bow.

"N-no mam," he said, his mouth closing firmly shut.

"I didn't think so."

"**My name is Percy Jackson."**

"No sheet, Sherlock," Apollo rolled his eyes in amusement – _this book is actually a lot better than I thought! I can't wait until it really gets started. What fun we'll have!_

Poseidon meanwhile was conflicted, not knowing whether to tell of the boy's parentage now and face the music, or confess it when the book reveals it. _I'll just wait a little while more_, he decided, _better safe than sorry after all. _

"**I'm twelve years old."**

"That is a little young, isn't it?" Persephone said, uncomfortable of knowing something terrible and horrible was going to happen to someone not yet even a teenager.

Meanwhile, Poseidon was once a gain lost in his own thoughts. _So this happens in three years, _he thought worriedly. _Oh my, oh my, oh my…_

"**Until a **_**few**_** months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York."**

"This could therefore mean that the child himself lives close by," Athena whispered. "Therefore, any one of us could be the child's parent."

"**Am I a troubled kid?"**

"Is this a trick question?" Apollo asked aloud in confusion. "I mean, if he goes to a troubled kids school wouldn't that automatically make him a…"

"Chill out brother," her sister said in concern, "give your brain a rest."

"Oi!"

"**Yeah. You could say that."**

"So he _is_ a troubled individual!" Apollo interrupted, ignoring the other's eyes rolling at him. "I always knew he was! I mean, who else would write 5 BIG BOOKS for us IMPORTANT GODS to read!"

"Don't be so mean," Hestia chided him sternly. "Besides, reading is good for you!"

"Hurmph!" he grumbled back in disgust, "that's what you think!"

"You know," Poseidon interrupted, feeling the need to defend his son. "He probably doesn't mean troubled as in mental or crazy kind of troubled, but referring to demigod kind of troubled."

"Like the standard dyslexia and ADHD?" Athena concluded, looking at Poseidon oddly, quite surprised that he'd commented at all, much less to defend the boy.

"Exactly," said, then when realising he actually commented on the scene he straightened up in his seat and attempted once again to remain expressionless and impassive.

"**I could start anywhere in my short miserable life"**

"_Aww,"_ the goddesses sighed inwardly, as Poseidon started to look anxious about his son's safety.

"**-to prove it, but things started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan - twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus,** **heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"Let's see," Dionysus interrupted, Chiron looking exasperated by now, "two teachers taking a large class of mental cases on an outing to a place full of sharp and priceless objects in a place probably big enough to run a marathon in. Yeah…, like that's a smart decision to make!"

"Plus," continued Hermes, shaking his head in sudden sympathy with Percy. "It just sounds like absolute torture!"

Apollo, Aphrodite, Persephone, Ares and Poseidon silently agreed with the messenger god, as they shuddered in displeasure at the thought of that awful outing.

"**I know - it sounds like torture."**

"You see what I mean?" Hermes said triumphantly. "Even the kid agrees!"

"Well then, he's definitely not a child of mine," Athena exclaimed, shocked at the boys unreasonable thoughts. "Because I cannot understand how one could possibly think that about something so grand!"

"**Most Yancy field trips were."**

"I'll bet," Hades murmured.

"**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes."**

"Hey, Chiron," Hera inquired, "isn't that one of the names you use in the mortal world?"

"Why yes," he replied amazed, "I guess I am in this too. I wonder what the boy thinks of me...?" He asked, as he read on quickly in excitement.

"**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.** **You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep."**

"Mmm," he concluded sadly, as the other's laughed around him. "I'm not sure what to make of that…"

"Haha," Apollo chuckled. "Run, it's the scruffy coffee monster!"

"Don't pay any attention to them, Chiron," Hestia comforted him, "we're only on the first couple of pages and already we know he approves of you. This relationship can only grow now. Have faith in him."

"Yeah," Aphrodite agreed. "No matter how old and scruffy you look, the kid actually thinks you're pretty cool!" she said kindly, before blowing it with, "Though it totally proves he's not my kid as that would be enough reason for me not to talk to you again….uh, no offence."

"Though," Athena sighed, ignoring Aphrodite completely, "I simply do not understand why you would teach them about the Roman world. As you well know…

"Start reading!" Persephone wailed, hearing another 20 hour lecture about Greek Culture about to erupt from the other goddesses' mouth.

"Quickly!" Hermes pleaded, earning a huff of disgust from the wisdom goddess.

"**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble."**

"Well," Apollo commented. "If you weren't before you are now."

"Really," Hermes agreed shaking his head, "A boy his age should know better than to jinx himself!"

"Will you be quiet!" Hera shouted, "some of us actually _want_ to finish the story this year!"

"**Boy, was I wrong."**

Poseidon closed his eyes in frustration. He just couldn't believe all he could do was sit here and listen to his son's fate and not being able to do one thing to change it: to help save him from the danger's lying in wait. _Please be okay, please be okay…._

"**See, bad things always happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon."**

Friendly laughter erupted on all sides of the room.

"Ha-ha," Ares chuckled, "I love this guy! He might be my kid after all!"

"**And before that, at my fourth-grade, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk, and our class took an unplanned swim."**

"Dude," Hermes laughed, referring to Apollo, "We have so got to try that out!"

Even Poseidon was laughing this time, managing to see his son's joking attitude towards life, even at facing something unpleasant: and revelling in it. _He just might be okay after all…_

"**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea."**

"We certainly do!" Zeus grinned, despite himself.

"And you really expect us to believe these were all accidents?" Hephaestus joked, earning another laugh from the room.

"Go Percy!" Apollo cheered.

"**This trip, I was determined to be good."**

"Whatever you say kid," Hades smiled.

"Yeah," Ares said, "we_ totally _believe you."

"**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich."**

"Ew!" Aphrodite and Persephone screeched. "That's absolutely revolting!"

"Grover as in the Satyr, Grover?" Hera inquired as her husbands next to her began to erupt, his lightening causing havoc to the unsuspecting mortals below.

"The Satyr who failed to save my little girl!" he raged, adding more fuel to the lightning storm that was sweeping fast over the vast city.

"To be fair to him," Chiron attempted both to calm his leader and protect the young Satyr, "he managed to escort two demigods safely to camp. And, what is more, no matter who the Satyr could have been instead of Grover, I believe the outcome would have been he same, as the forces against your daughter were simply too many for her to overcome."

"He's right sweetheart," Hera whispered to him in comfort, "do not blame the Satyr for this travesty, nor your brothers. What was done can't be changed, but please do remember that there's a small chance she can be returned safely to the world one day. Hold on to this thought, my love, and keep it with you to cherish always."

Slowly Zeus turned towards her the storm outside already receding, to gaze into her sympathetic, glowing eyes. He whispered, "Why are you being so caring towards me? I know you cannot stand the mortal children that I sire."

"I care," she said slowly, "because I love you intensely, and I know this is incident with your daughter is something that has caused you great pain. Though I do tend to hate the result of your affairs, I care about your happiness even more, and my only wish now is to help ease your pain."

"I love you," he whispered, leaning in to accept her embrace, and to offer her a kiss.

"I love you more," she sang, kissing him back more forcefully.

They both continued like this for a while- lost in their own little universe- before a subtle cough penetrated their glorious paradise. Breaking off the kiss, they suddenly found themselves the centre of attention, with every pair of eyes in the room staring at them in disbelief.

Dionysus coughed again, "Are you done now?" he asked sarcastically, "because some of us want to get on with the book."

The married couple had the grace to look sheepish, before settling down once more to listen to the story.

"**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled."**

"Tell me again why I should like him?" Zeus asked his wife in sheer confusion. "He's so…so…"

"Grovery?" Apollo suggested slyly.

"Urgh, exactly!" he agreed, as Hera smiled despite herself.

"**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria."**

"Rigggghht," groaned Hermes, "because that's the perfect way to keep your cover! This guy really needs a lesson in espionage from my kids."

"You know," Demeter started, "you guys really should be nicer towards him. At the end of the day he's just a kid."

"But where's the fun in that?" Ares scoffed.

"**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair,…"**

"Aw, the poor guy," Hestia whispered, as all the other males doubled over, laughing hysterically.

"Boys," Artemis frowned, "always disgusting and always getting into trouble."

"Uh," they all groaned.

"Artemis," Hades pleaded, "please, I'm begging you, please let's not get sucked into this boys vs girl's discussion AGAIN! It's tedious and highly frustrating!"

"And besides," added Hephaestus innocently, "correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Nancy a giiirrl's name?"

"OWNED!" Apollo shouted, cheered on by the rest of the male party, whilst Artemis went the colour of blood red.

With a voice completely void of emotion she commanded, "Read on, Chiron. _Now_."

"…**and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation."**

"Pity," Ares sighed, desperate now for some kind of action.

"**The headmaster threatened me with death,"**

"Yes!" Ares shouted, excitedly leaping up from his seat and performing a Mexican wave.

"WHAT?" Poseidon exclaimed furiously.

"**by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip."**

Aah," Poseidon settled back down as Ares sulked childishly, a little embarrassed at having lost his temper.

"Something you wanted to say, dear Uncle?" Athena asked devilishly, her classic know-it-all smirk plastered solidly on her face.

_Well,_ Poseidon thought gloomily. _I'd better tell them now instead of them finding out later and them being even more upset._

He sighed once before turning to face his brothers. "Percy Jackson…is my son."

Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Athena's smile of triumph, but instead of attempting to wipe it clean off her face as he normally would have done, his plans were erupted by his brother's reactions.

"WHAT?" They yelled in union, rising to their feet in outrage.

"Brothers, calm yourselves!" he attempted to make peace, and after a few more rash and violent screams of insults and rage, the trio sat back down again calmly – or as calmly as they were ever going to be during the circumstances.

Rubbing his forehead tiredly he tried to make them understand. "Yes, I broke the oath too," as he went on to explain about his glorious affair with Sally Jackson.

"Eventually I forced myself to leave when I knew about the pregnancy," he concluded, "but it was the hardest decision I ever had to make, and I miss her everyday. The baby's name is Percy Jackson, and he's just turned nine this year and knows nothing- of course- about this world.

"I'm sorry Hades for breaking my vow when you have not, and sorrier about Thalia Zeus," we went on, "but you can't be mad at me about this Zeus, as like it or not you broke the vow first!"

Zeus let out a breath of defeat, while Hades –though he looked more forgiving than he had a couple of minutes ago – looked at Poseidon in complete disappointment. "Then what will you have us do?"

"Accept that I made a mistake," I whispered hopefully, "but for now if you could just find it in yourselves to accept what I say and move on: and maybe someday you'll even forgive me. Don't punish my child for my mistake. Please," he begged, and he never begged for anything in his life.

"Fine," Zeus said, "For now we'll ignore it. But if he steps one toe out of line…" he left the threat unfinished.

"Thank you, brother."

"Now," Hera muttered darkly, taking the focus of the group once again to the book. "Can we all be quiet with no more interruption for a little while, or it'll be dark outside before we even finish the first chapter!"

"Yes, we can," they all recited in perfect harmony, as if receiving a well known prayer to a strict teacher.

"**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"**That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

"You know," Hermes interrupted bravely, ignoring Hera's viper glare of warning, "Percy's a really good friend to have- just look at the way he's willing to sacrifice his future in school for a friend."

"I agree," Apollo said, looking at Artemis with a grin on his face. "You better watch out for him, sis," he told her, "or he might actually get you to believe that not all men are lustful pigs like you think."

"Dream on, brother," she replied in disgust. _The day I gain faith in men is the day I will be dragged, gagged and thrown into the deepest pit of Tatarus voluntarily in one of Aphrodite's skimpy bikinis_, she declared fiercely in the comfort of her mind.

"Ow, come on Percy!" Ares whined. "Clobber that brat! Shove her out of the window! Do something exciting and violent!"

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.**

"Urgh," he moaned, exasperated, "so do I you ignorant child!"

"Yeah," Hephaestus yawned, "we could do with some action right about now, not more stupid introductions that we already know."

"Thank you!"

"**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into."**

"The poor thing," Persephone sighed, along with Hestia and Demeter, while Poseidon fidgeted nervously. "He must have been so scared."

"Come on, come on," Ares urged desperately.

"**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**I blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years."**

(YAWN!)

"**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a **_**stele**_**, for a girl about our age."**

"Yes," Artemis started, "because Chiron knows full well that females…"

"Will you just stop with the sexiest comments for now, PLEASE?" Hermes begged, "there's only so much I can take!"

"**I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting,"**

"No! Say it isn't so!" Apollo yelled, "he's gone over to the dark side!"

"Aw," Athena gushed happily that the boy was finally taking some interest into the intellectual world around him. _There might be hope for him yet!_

"**But everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker."**

"You know…" Ares chuckled, "I've always wanted to try that…"

"**She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown."**

"Just how rough are these kids anyway?" Hades asked, astonished at their delinquent behaviour.

"They're not that bad," Hestia defended them. "I'm sure if they all were showered and bathed daily in comfort and love they will grow to become very respectable adults."

Everyone just stared at the girl sitting besides the fireplace, forcing her cheeks to blush a scarlet red.

"Or maybe not…"

"**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was a devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month."**

"She seems positively evil," Demeter shuddered, "I wouldn't want her anywhere near my crops."

"I know," Aphrodite agreed. "Her fashion sense is totally diabolical! What kind of self respecting lady of 50 – basically an old granny!- would dress up like a biker chick from a B rated movie and still blurt out corny phrases like honey? Sounds like she should be taken away to hospital like the last one!"

"Girl's," Apollo sighed.

"**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Seriously," Hermes groaned. "is he actually _trying_ to break his cover? My two month year old son can do better than this already!"

Poseidon just glared at Hades in pure hatred. "You had better hope," he growled, "that she is a demented old lady with a weird fashion sense…"

"Whatever she may be," Hades defended himself, "just remember that I haven't done it yet! And maybe this is one of the things young Percy may want us to change."

"**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art."**

"Must you be so depressing," Persephone sighed at Chiron, "I have enough of the doom and gloom nonsense from my husband, thank you very much."

Chiron just glared and kept on reading.

"**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you **_**shut up**_**?"**

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the boys chanted eagerly, ignoring the girl's catty remarks.

"Come on!" Ares pleaded, "she's just begging you for a good slap in the face!"

"**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story."**

"Oh," Poseidon glared at the sheepish looking centaur, "_now_ you decide to stop?"

"He was finally going to beat her up," Ares cried, "you ruin everything!"

"I can't believe you're that mean," sulked Apollo, "spoiling our fun like that!"

The old centaur just sighed and once again attempted to carry on.

"**Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

"Well," Chiron muttered, ignoring the glares of the Olympians around him, "He obviously did have a comment…"

"Shut up," Ares said meanly, "I'm no longer speaking to you!"

"Fine," the centaur huffed back.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

The gods all around him groaned at that horrible memory rooted in their minds.

"It had to be that one," Hades murmured darkly, grimacing in remembrance.

"What exactly have I done to you, Chiron," Ares asked desperately, "to make you torture me so violently? You know I can't stand historical events!"

Chiron wisely thought it best to keep his mouth firmly shut, not wanting to worsen the situation further.

"**Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied.**

"**And he **_**did**_** this because…"**

"ARGH!" Ares' pain-filled scream echoed throughout the room.

No one dared to laugh or even say a word.

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"GOD?" they exclaimed, horrified at young Percy's words.

"How dare he?" Zeus raged.

"He deserves punishment!" Hades hollered

"Is this really how you educate children nowadays, centaur?" Poseidon hissed, trying to move the mistake onto the centaur and away from his beloved son.

"Look," Athena interrupted, finally having had enough of watching the other's pick on the centaur. "I'm perfectly certain Percy didn't mean what he said – he doesn't even know we exist. I'm sure he'll realise his mistake in no time and correct it immediately."

"**god?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"**Titan." I corrected myself. **

"You see?" Athena grinned triumphantly. "No harm, no foul."

"Thank goodness for that," the centaur muttered, looking extremely relived.

**"And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.**

"I wonder what a rock tastes like…?" Apollo asked, suddenly lost in thought.

"I myself wonder," Hera said with a sly grin on her face, "how ugly a baby your father must have been for Kronos to have believed that the big rock he was munching down was him."

Everyone laughed at that, as Zeus frowned moodily at his wife, promising her swift retaliation.

**And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"**

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"Oh!" Aphrodite cried, her face immediately turning a pale and sickly green, "that disgusting boy!"

"I too could have done without that mental image," agreed Demeter, who was feeling rather sick, especially after all those grapes she'd eaten.

"Gross," Apollo agreed, "but totally awesome!" He went to go and high five Poseidon, "Uncle, I just love your kid!"

"Indeed," Athena said to Poseidon, deeply amused. "But the thing that most amazes me is the sheer ability the boy has to turn something horrendous and life scarring into something simple and stupid."

"Moving on…" the centaur decided wisely, before another fight could be picked.

**" - and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued. "And the gods won."**

"The hell we did!" Hermes cheered.

"We kicked some Titan but!" Ares agreed.

"Go us!" Apollo rooted.

**Some snickers from the group**

"What's so funny?" Hestia asked in bewilderment.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"**And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Busted!" the gods cried happily.

"**Busted," Grover muttered.**

"Aw, you rock Chiron!" Ares shouted, further convincing the centaur to never take anything the god of war says seriously.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

"Ooh," Artemis exclaimed, "someone's _touchy!"_

He other males simply stared at her, deeply shocked at her bad attitude towards another female.

"What?" she blushed, embarrassed. "You guys are allowed to do it- why can't I?"

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"**I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "well, half-credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. **

"And now I'm back to hating you!" Ares grumbled.

"Ares," his father sighed patiently, "you weren't even born when this happened, so how can this possibly affect you?"

"It's the principal isn't it?" he muttered.

"What's the principal?" Athena enquired, slightly interested in the unusual answer.

"That he can't just…it's just not….it just is!"

"…right…"Athena said innocently. "I'm glad we've managed to sort that out."

Ares just gave her a dirty look.

**The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside."**

"Yes," Hermes called happily, "the lecture is finished!"

"You're really not a happy person-"

"- or a people person," sighed Aphrodite, pitying his lack of social skills.

"-aren't you, Chiron," Apollo sighed, looking miserable at having been interrupted.

"I myself was wondering," Poseidon said, "more along the lines of what you would consider as a sad note?"

"Being surrounded constantly with whiny little brats tends unravel the sanest of people into an emotional and mental wreck," Dionysus sighed darkly, "you guys should really pity him – he's obviously on the verge of a mental breakdown."

"Hades is even a happier person than that," Persephone added, "and he's the Lord of Unhappiness and Utter Misery!"

"If anyone wishes to know," answered the frustrated looking centaur, "I'm sure I was only being sarcastic."

"Sure you were," the other's replied, grinning sympathetically back at him, rolling their eyes in amusement.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"Don't start," Zeus warned Artemis - who was getting ready to comment – who pouted sullenly at the injustice. _If the stupid boys are allowed to comment all the time, _she raged_, then why the hell can't I?_

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

"You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?" Apollo glared at him, and Ares shook his head in further disappointment.

"Look," Chiron said firmly and confidently, "since I didn't signal anyone else out, whatever I said –or would say in the future- must have been –be- important."

**I knew that was coming.**

"Well we don't," Athena said in confusion, "so how could you?"

"Through his special physic abilities?" Apollo suggested happily.

"He doesn't have any special physic abilities," Athena frowned at him, as Apollo's easy going smile turned into a glare.

"Must you belittle everything I say?"

"Belittle?" Athena's eyebrows shot up. "Amazing," she smiled at him genuinely, "I didn't think you even knew what the word meant, let alone be able to use it confidently in a sentence. Good work, Apollo!"

Apollo continued to glare at her in hatred.

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner and asked, "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go - intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

**"You must learn to answer my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

"When's the important life lesson going to come up then?" Aphrodite teased him, "cause so far you're just talking bull, if you pardon my French."

"Aphrodite," Hestia interrupted patiently, "he's obviously trying to have a special bonding moment with Percy, so show a little respect here please."

"But seriously," Demeter added, glancing at Chiron, "you really _do_ need to develop better social skills, as it'll make awkward conversations like this much easier."

"Hurmph," Chiron sighed impatiently, tired of being the god's punching bag. He couldn't wait to get to the end of the chapter to allow someone else to take over and so that he could enjoy some peace and quiet for a change.

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"Aw," Aphrodite said, her mood brightening slightly, "I guess that is a _little_ sweet. Okay," she sighed, "I'll try to be nicer to you from now on."

**I wanted to get angry. This guy pushed me so hard.**

"But only because I care about you," Chiron interrupted, "because otherwise I wouldn't have bothered."

"Still," Poseidon argued in his sons favour, "maybe you could tone it down a tad, as being a demigod does bring him a few learning problems."

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!"**

"What a corny phrase," Apollo and Hermes sniggered quietly.

**and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name very Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

"How could you be so evil?" Ares gasped.

"I don't even know the names of every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, much less their mother's names," Zeus said shocked, as Poseidon could only glare at the centaur in dislike.

"The sword part sounds cool though," Hephaestus murmured, lost in thought, bringing everyone back to focus on the novel.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be **_**as good;**_** he expected me to be **_**better.**_** And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"Poor boy," Persephone began shaking her head in pity.

"Wow," Athena said snidely, "he's even as dumb as you, Poseidon."

Poseidon's face was turning red in anger. Just before he was about to erupt, Chiron smartly and hastily apologised for his 'outrageous behaviour` and promised to be a little easier on the boy this time around.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the **_**stele**_**, like he's been at this girl's funeral.**

"But I actually was," he started, "I remember it: it was in…"

"Just read," Dionysus said, tired of the centaur's attitude, and couldn't wait for the next chapter to get a better reader.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.** **The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city.**

"So why d'you reckon you're so angry?" Aphrodite asked Zeus.

"Well," he answered sarcastically. "Since the title of the book is called 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief' I'm going to guess it's something along the lines of having my lightning bolt stolen from me?"

"I was only trying to help," she sniffed, eyes leaking steadily.

**I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas.**

**We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

"I think this business with your lightning bolt has resulted in the two of you," Athena pointed at Zeus and Poseidon, "fighting."

"Did you steal my lightning bolt?" Zeus growled low and suspiciously.

"I can almost certainly swear I didn't," Poseidon answered truthfully, watching his brother calm down slightly. "What would I want it for anyway? I'm content with the power of my trident and have no interest in an instrument of the sky."

"You had better not be lying," he warned, as Hades sat besides them in a thoughtful silence.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunch tables crackers.**

"How childish of them," Demeter chided, earning a smile from Artemis.

"It does sound like fun…," Ares commented slowly, "if they were, like, twenty times bigger and the crackers were rocket launchers."

"Sounds epic," Apollo agreed, ignoring the women's squeals of protests.

"They wouldn't feel a thing," Ares assured them, chuckling darkly: prompting Chiron into quick action.

**Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

Everyone looked knowingly at Hermes, who snorted rather rudely. "Oh, please! Not every klepto kid in the world is mine, you know. Just like not every mental kid is Dionysus', so give me a break!"

"…Okay…"

"You know," Athena informed the group, "this Mrs. Dodds is most likely a monster: seeing as the chapter title heavily suggests that Percy vaporises her at the end of it. So she most likely doesn't give a damn what the other kids around her are doing: her main interest is Percy."

As the rest of the Olympians thought about that for a moment, Chiron took the opportunity to read on.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from **_**that **_**school - the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes, I mean - I'm not a genius."**

"Obviously," Athena rolled her eyes, as Poseidon continued to glare evilly at his rival.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

"Urgh," Zeus moaned loudly, "that Satyr is highly infuriating! I wish I could end his life now just so that I can stop reading about him!"

"Now, dad," Dionysus, stepped in to cool the situation, "though I agree wholeheartedly with you on this matter, we cannot simply kill him for two reasons. One, because he hasn't actually done anything wrong to deserve it, except for being a blundering idiot. And two, he seems very close to this Perry character: meaning he could be highly influential and an important character later on in the book. So for now," he continued, "all we can do is sit and read, and, who knows? Maybe he'll grow on us?

They both laughed at that, allowing Chiron and the rest of the room to roll their eyes and continue reading.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

"Such a kind boy," Hestia sighed again, and Poseidon smiled proudly at him. _That's my boy!_

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home.**

**She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

As the male gods scoffed at the young boys yearning for his mother, the majority of the goddesses felt instantly sympathetic towards him. Poseidon meanwhile was lost in thought in memories of his beloved Sally. _I wonder how much she's changed in the future? _He thought,_ She's just as caring and loving as always though. I can't wait to hear more about her._

"Well," Athena interrupted, "she wouldn't have to be disappointed with you if you'd simply just excel yourself in school."

"Oh, give it a rest woman," Apollo tutted. "Not all of us can be as smart and as well behaved as you!"

She narrowed her eyes in anger.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the bass of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery,** **while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

"That sounds kinda cool," Ares said referring to the vehicle.

"Hephaestus," Hermes called, "can you make us one? Pleeeaaasee?"

"Oh, and me!" Apollo and Ares shouted.

The forge god sighed, "fine. But you owe me!"

"Fine," the trio grinned happily at each other.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

"Deck her, Percy!" Ares screamed to the book. Glancing at Chiron, he threatened harshly, "if you do something to stop this fight I will personally make sure that red umbrella will have a fitting new home when it's stuck all the way up your-"

"Language, children!" Hera screamed at her son, "or I'll make you wash out your mouth with soap!"

"'Kay, mommy," he apologised quickly, "Sorry!"

**"Oops." She grinned-**

"Oh, like you really expect us to think it was an accident," scoffed Persephone in distaste of the she-beast.

**-at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"That's just sickening," Aphrodite moaned, "has the girl even heard about the little thing out nowadays called…oh, I don't know…makeup?"

A chorus of "I know!" swept across the room.

"I mean," she continued, "she's even more ugly and disgusting than my husband: and that's saying something!"

The room was filled with absolute silence, forcing Chiron to continue once again.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"A wave…" Poseidon worriedly lingered on the thought.

However, Ares grinned in excitement, "Yes," he cheered, "he's going to lose his temper and blast her!"

"Oh no," Athena whispered, locking eyes with Poseidon who was nodding grimly in realisation of the dangerous situation. Percy was in big trouble.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Finally," Ares cheered, still oblivious to the danger the young demigod was in. "She got what was coming to her!"

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. **

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see - "**

**" - the water - "**

**" - like it grabbed her - "**

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

By now, most of the gods present had realised what was going on, as they all leaned forward in their seats worriedly: anxious to hear the fate of the boy. Even Zeus and Hades - who had every right to hate Percy and wish for his death - felt empathetic towards him and hoped that he'd escape unharmed.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay,-**

"Pfft," Persephone said rudely, "who the hell cares about her?"

"We want to know about Percy," chanted Apollo and Hermes.

Even Artemis nodded at that, and scrunched up her face in worry.

**-promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.**

"Please be okay, please be okay," Poseidon whispered, over and over again in attempt to comfort himself.

"**Now, honey—" **

"**I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Believe me," Dionysus warned him, even though there was no way the boy could hear him, "in a few minutes you'd wish that was it."

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Yeah I don't think it was either." Apollo said.

"**Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

"Here it comes," Ares sang, half in excitement, half in concern, now realising that this was one fight that really needed to be avoided.

**Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

Zeus and Poseidon appeared equally stunned.

"I can't believe it either," Zeus said, "that that idiotic Satyr is trying to save him..."

"Well," Dionysus rolled his eyes sarcastically, "that is his job you know: to help protect these children from danger. He's trying his best here, but it's a tough situation as he can't afford to expose himself at this point in the novel."

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But - "**

**"You - **_**will**_** - stay - here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"Yep," Athena declared. "His fatal flaw is his personal loyalty: one of the hardest flaws to control and conquer."

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "**_**Now**_**."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

"Seriously," Artemis vowed, "when we finish reading these books, the first thing I'm doing to do is to beat some sense into this silly little girl's head."

The majority cheered their approval, with some even offering to help, leaving Dionysus – who couldn't really be bothered- and Chiron shaking their heads.

**I gave her my deluxe **_**I'll-kill-you-later **_**stare.**

"Yeah," Poseidon glared, wishing he could do the same, "show here who's in charge!"

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"If this were a movie," Hermes said sadly, "I could almost here the sad fiddle music in the background."

"Like 'Requiem for a dream`?" Apollo said automatically, starting to hum it enthusiastically.

"Exactly," Hermes shuddered.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

"I don't think that applies to this, child." Zeus said sadly, waiting in despair for the child to suffer and die: just like his Thalia. _Why must they constantly suffer? _He thought_, is there really nothing we can do to stop our children dying young and horribly, and most often alone?_

**I wasn't so sure.**

Which earned a slight chuckle from the group at the similarities between the two statements.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

"This is it…" Hades murmured softly.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

Chaos erupted.

"It must have been an amazingly good book for me not to have noticed this," Chiron attempted to defend himself.

"You're not there to read a book, centaur," Poseidon growled, "You're there to protect my son!"

"Look," Athena interrupted, a smug look was on her face, "we're only on the first chapter!"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ares asked in bewilderment.

"It means," she said slowly, as if speaking to a toddler. "That Percy can possibly die now, especially with him being the main character – if he does, the book would end there, but it doesn't!"

"Aah," the group let out a relieved breath.

"But that doesn't mean he can't die," she warned them, "just that it's highly improbable for him to die this early on in the novel."

"So," Hades took over, "the boy will probably be saved before anything truly bad happens-this time."

Poseidon relaxed a little more, looking extremely relieved.

"Now," Chiron ventured, "are we all ready to read on?"

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"Where does this boy come up with these ridiculous thoughts?" Hephaestus shook his head. "Surely he must know by now that he's in serious danger."

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

Athena interrupted once again. "I have been meaning to mention, Poseidon that the boy does appear to be quite a slow thinker, and an even worse reactor to situations…"

"He's not that slow," he protested, "and he's entitled to a little confusion in these kinds of situations, especially when he doesn't know anything about our world."

"Well," Hera said simply, "you won't be able to use that excuse for much longer, brother."

He wisely decided to remain silent.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

Apollo started to hum the introduction music to the popular film jaws, causing everyone's heart to accelerate even more.

"Completely alone," commented Demeter, "with no weapons or no training. It will be interesting to see how he will escape from this sticky situation."

Poseidon just glared hatefully at Hades, convinced that he was responsible for this future attack on his son.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

"Problems?" Athena whispered, bewildered. _How could this young demigod possibly cause problems if he knows nothing of our world?_

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"Get away with what?" Hera leaned forward even more, deep in thought.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"Don't bet on it, son," Poseidon urged. "Don't trust her."

**I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Persephone said softly, waves of tension flowing tightly throughout her body.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

Everyone just looked at one another in confusion.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

The tension proved to much for Apollo and Hermes, as despite everything, they suddenly burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny," Artemis hissed at them.

"But how could you not laugh at it?" Apollo asked. "By now the kid knows he's in serious trouble, where he's probably so scared he could wet his pants any minute. But he can still manage to make jokes."

"He's an awesome kid," Hermes agreed. "Who's very brave in the face of danger."

"He'll be alright," they both said firmly, confidently.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer **_**from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"See?" they said, in between chuckles, and even a few others laughed too.

"**Well?" she demanded.**

"**Ma'am, I don't…"**

"**Your time is up," she hissed.**

The room immediately went completely silent, with everyone sobering up instantly.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"A FURY?" Poseidon roared, causing the earth beneath him to groan and quake. "You sent a _Fury _after my son? How dare you!"

Hades screeched quickly, "I haven't done it yet!" collecting himself a little, he said, "nor would I want to know that I've gotten to know him. I'm not sure what my future self wants from this boy or why he wants this boy to be punished, but it is not MY wish at this second.

"Now," he suggested, "why don't we all just read on to see what exatly is going on?"

Poseidon sat back down on his throne slowly, still glaring at his brother, "if you kill him…either of you… I will not be responsible for my actions!"

**Then things got even stranger.**

"Urgh," Zeus groaned, "what could possibly go wrong now?"

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"Anaklusmos." Poseidon smiled, causing his two brothers to release the breathes that they'd been holding out slowly in relief.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

"Thank you, centaur," Poseidon said. "I owe you much."

"Three cheers for Chiron!" Apollo yelled happily.

"Brother," Artemis interrupted. "I really don't want to burst your bubble, but the monster hasn't yet been destroyed."

"Aah," Apollo said glumly.

"Pulverise him, Perce!" Ares screamed violently.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

"Come on!" they urged him on, shouting wildly, all fingers crossed.

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

_Please, please, please, please, please_, Poseidon prayed…

**And she flew straight at me.**

_Come on!_ Hades pleaded violently: clearly not wishing more of a confrontation with his brothers than he'd already had that day.

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

Apollo closed his eyes in horror…

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hisss!**_

"YES!" Poseidon cheered, as several of the gods leaped up off their thrones in happiness to embrace him and each other. Even Athena and Artemis were smiling, despite themselves.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"Not bad, Uncle," Ares clapped Poseidon on the back, "that was quite good for his first monster."

"Without any training too," Hermes added, making Poseidon's chest fill with pride for his son.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

"Uh-oh," murmured Demeter, "the mist. Although it's useful I have a feeling it's going to be quite a pain right now."

Athena could only nod her head in agreement.

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Urgh, you stupid mist!" Dionysus cursed slumping back down into his throne. "Now not only will Percy not believe what just happened but we'll probably spend another chapter or two on him just learning who the hell he is!"

A groan of frustration swept the room.

"So not fair!" Apollo pouted.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"NO!"

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

"Just how exactly is that relevant to the story exactly?" Hephaestus sulked moodily, his hands propping up his head.

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"WHO?" everyone replied, with the exception of Athena, who muttered, "Curses!" darkly.

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our **_**teacher.**_ **Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

"CURSES!"

"Who invented this stupid mist anyway?" Ares grumbled sadly, clearly in an awful mood.

Wisely, nobody said a word.

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"He _seriously_ needs lessons into the subtle art of deception," Hermes moaned at the Satyr's pathetic lying skills. "When we finish these books," he declared, "I will make it my life's mission to take him under my wing and to teach him all my evil ways."

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"Now Chiron," Hermes said, "Chiron can lie." He smiled in approval.

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Chiron said, closing the book.

"Well," Athena said, after a few moments of silence, "that definitely wasn't the type of thing I was suspecting when we decided to read this."

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's a lot more vivid," Artemis agreed, "and it shows a lot more of the character's personality than any other book I've read."

"I feel so sorry for him," Persephone sighed, where Demeter, Hestia and Aphrodite all agreed, "I mean, I know that the life of a demigod is hard, but I have never felt more empathetic towards them until now."

"And it's going to get a whole lot worse," Demeter added sadly, "as the more he realises what he is, the harder and more violent things are going to get for him."

"It makes me feel so sad for all our children," Hestia continued, "especially since the rules state clearly that we cannot do anything to help ease their pain."

Zeus felt extremely guilty at that last comment. "Those rules were written before we came into power and are there for a reason.

"However," he felt the need to add, "they're not completely set in stone and it's something we can look further into the more we read of the book. Now, who wants to read the next chapter?"

Apollo raised his hand meekly, "Can we have a little break first?" he asked. "I'm starving."

"I could also use a break to stretch my legs," Chiron agreed.

"Very well," Zeus declared. "We will return here in approximately one hour to start the second chapter."

(A.N. That's it Wow, that took a lot longer than I thought it would tbh, so the chapters from now on will probably take me a couple of days to do. Did you like it? Any suggestions on how to improve it you may be wanting to tell me? If so review- it's always a pleasure.

Thanks again for the support you've given me,)

T.T.F.N.


	5. Deadly socks

_**(A.N. Firstly I want to give out a big thank you to all those readers who've followed me so far and have given me supportive comments and advice: I really appreciate it guys.**_

_**Okay here's the second chapter, and it'll be written in the same kind of style as the previous one. Mmmm, now, who will I pick to read out this chapter….it must certainly be done in a fair way. Mmmm….Eenie …Meenie….Miney…YOU!**_

_**Mwah ha ha (rubbing my hands together in glee) this should be fun to write **___

_**Now without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy!)**_

**Chapter 5 = Three old ladies knit the socks of death (or Deadly Socks –the short version.)**

As the hour was up, the gods slowly gathered back together one by one, shrinking in size, to sit on their godly thrones. Athena, always punctual, was of course the first one back, followed swiftly by Chiron – who clambered back awkwardly into his tiny uncomfortable wheelchair.

"Chiron," the wisdom goddess spoke kindly towards him, "you do not have to climb back into this seat if it makes you uncomfortable. If you wish, you could lay comfortably down as you are."

The old centaur smiled warmly back at the goddess. "I will do just that, my Lady, with many thanks."

Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter and Artemis were the next to return, appearing deep in conversation about Percy and Sally. As they shrunk back to normal human size to sit down, Demeter said, "they sound so sweet," she gushed.

"Honestly, brother," Hestia agreed, "during the next break you must show us a picture of them – or perhaps allow us to go to earth for a few moments to have a quick glimpse at him- so I can feel that much closer to him whilst we're reading about him."

Demeter nodded enthusiastically, "I would like that very much. I can just imagine what he looks like."

"I think he'll be a pleasant looking boy," Hestia guessed, "with an easy going smile."

"With big adorable eyes," Demeter added.

Artemis smiled at her Uncle, "I believe he'll look exactly like a younger version of you, Poseidon. Am I correct?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Poseidon smirked mischievously, secretly thrilled at the pleasant reception his son was getting.

Dionysus suddenly strolled in, now appearing as a giant to them, yawning widely and loudly – from what apparently was a very satisfying short nap – and accidentally blowing the others and their thrones a few paces backwards.

He instantly shrank back to a more human size and grinned evilly at his family members – while simply ignoring Chiron – who were glaring at him in unmasked hatred. "Urm," he added innocently, "I'm sorry?"

"Just sit down," Athena hissed, tidying up her complexion hastily, while enchanting the thrones back to their original places.

Hades and Persephone were the next ones in, apparently finished with trying to be nice to each other and were now arguing flat out- instantly giving the 'little' gods an excruciatingly painful headache. They shrank back down to human size and sat violently down on their make shift seats, refusing to say one more word to each other.

"At the risk of making things worse," Athena started, "dare I ask what's wrong this time?"

"Mr. Hold-a-Grudge over there," Persephone glared pointing at her husband, "still hasn't forgiven me for calling him the Supreme Lord of Unhappiness and Utter Misery."

"And?" Athena prompted.

"Isn't that enough?" Hades growled. "Is it too much to ask my immortal WIFE to show me a little respect? I slave all day," he droned on, almost forgetting the other gods where actually in the room, "and am constantly surrounded by suffering, decay and the dead who always hound me wherever I go, begging me for mercy and special favours. A full day of this always drains me dry and pushes me to my physical and emotional limit, where the only thing that keeps me going throughout the day is the hopeful thought that my gorgeous and dutiful wife will be there when I return home: embracing me lovingly and showering me with warmth – to chase away all the bad emotions and replace them with good ones."

"Aw, darling," Persephone blushed in surprise, "I had no idea you felt that way."

"I'm not a person who can easily express their feelings," Hades admitted, "as in my line of work and because of my power status that could lead to disastrous consequences. Besides, since you're always trying to find any excuse to pick an argument with me, there was never a right time to express my true feelings for you, as you would have thrown them back in my face and accused me of lying."

"Well," Persephone replied, moving to sit on her husband's lap, "I admit I've never been fair to you, and I've never considered how hard your work actually is – emotionally or physically. I guess I've never really forgiven you for what you did all those years ago…"

"Which I have thoroughly apologised for," Hades sighed glumly.

" Then I guess it's high time I accept it," she decided, causing Hades' face to frown in confusion. "After all, we are married…we should be making the best it and be nicer to each other, instead of trying to make the other one lose their temper and cry."

"You were always extremely good at that," Hades interrupted softly.

"And I'm sorry," she apologised. "Let's start again. As soon as we finish reading these books we'll go back home and liven the place up."

"Liven it up…"

"Everything down there's so black and gloomy," she went on, "so it's no wonder you're so miserable!"

"We'll do it together," he said, locking their hands together in union.

"Together," she agreed, smiling warmly at him.

As they were about to kiss, Aphrodite strode in (already in human size) laughing happily, while at the same time checking her complexion in her hand mirror.

"What's up with you?" Artemis questioned her suspiciously, as Persephone quietly sunk back into her chair, their hands still entwined.

"Oh nothing," she grinned. "It's just that Zeus and Hera are in an extremely happy mood!"

"Dare I ask how you happen to know that?" Athena asked.

"Oh," the love goddess replied back happily, "just a feeling I sometimes have. Plus that when I was walking past their private lounge I could hear these really loud noises through the doors that were actually-"

"Enough information!" the virgin goddesses moaned, causing Aphrodite's smirk to widen even more.

Zeus and Hera –ironically – chose that moment to waltz through the door way, arms linked and smiling lazily. Although their clothing looked perfect, with nothing out of place, the redness of their skin left little question as to what they had both been doing.

As they took their place in their thrones, Zeus sighed loudly. "It has now been over an hour. Who are we missing?"

"Apollo, Ares and Hermes are late, as usual," Athena muttered, automatically angry at them for showing tardiness, "and Hephaestus, which is quite unusual for him."

An odd rumbling noise could be heard from afar.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Demeter asked.

"What is it?" Persephone asked Athena, who merely shook her head in confusion.

"I do not know," she admitted, "it is nothing I have heard before."

Suddenly the doors burst open, revealing the hyperactive trio (in giant mode) who were all cackling madly, running circles around the tiny thrones.

"What…what are they riding on?" Poseidon asked, looking up in bewilderment.

"If I remember correctly," Chiron stated, "they wanted Hephaestus to build them each a fast and dangerous disabled wheelchair with an umbrella attached to the back."

"I made a few adjustments, of course," Hephaestus appeared, slumping tiredly into his throne. "Instead of just an average engine I used rocket powered ones for maximum speed, where each umbrella has different abilities."

"They're so awesome!" Hermes gloated. "Look, mine can fly!" He suddenly pressed a button, and the enormous vehicle lifted high into the air as the umbrella spun speedily around and around.

"Pfft," Ares scoffed, "mines shoots deadly lasers at unsuspecting enemies – want to see?"

"No!" everyone screamed, leaving Ares hurt and sulking.

"And what does yours do, brother?" Artemis sneered. "Turn into a drill to dig an enormous hole into the earth's core."

"Cool," Apollo commented, "but no. Mine has the amazing ability to give me whatever cool snack I want, whenever I want." Everyone stared blankly at him. "Don't you believe me? Look! Let's say I fancy some cookies. All I have to do is press this button here, think about cookies and the umbrella magically gives it to me! Yum!" he exclaimed, munching hungrily, "nice and toasty!"

"But you're a god," Aphrodite frowned at him, "so couldn't you just do that anyway?"

"Will you three just sit down!" Poseidon yelled, frustrated at how little it took to distract the three hooligans he called nephews. "Some of us actually want to finish the story!"

"Yes, Uncle Poseidon," they answered glumly, shrinking to human size and sat glumly upon their thrones.

"Now then," Zeus said, "who wants to read this chapter?"

No one volunteered.

"Look," he sighed, "sooner or later we all are going to have to read a chapter, so you might want to stop this nonsense and just get it over and done with."

"Then I will read," Hestia said, taking the book and opening it to the right section. "The chapter title is: **Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks Of Death."**

"Well…"Demeter started.

"…that doesn't sound good," Hermes whistled.

"If we can work out the title's meaning," Athena stated, "then we should be able to work out what the chapter will be about."

"Isn't it obvious?" Apollo said, "that the boy's going to be attacked by giant socks!"

"Really?" Ares said in confusion. "Then my train of thought was totally off! I thought that the 'three old ladies' was referring to the three fates, where the 'sock of death' was referring to the lines of thread they spin: which sort of lead me to the conclusion that the boy, upon meeting these fates, thought they meant him harm, or possibly even saw his death by cutting his line of thread, leaving him attempting to overcome his terror with very bizarre modern humour." Ares blushed, "I feel kind of stupid now."

A shocked silence filled the room, as everyone turned to stare at Ares.

"So you should be!" Apollo tuted, as Hermes and Zeus nodded their heads in agreement. "Do you know how stupid and bizarre that sounds?"

"But…" Athena tried to interrupt, but Hermes just waved her back.

"Seriously, Ares," Hermes advised gently, "from now on leave the thinking to someone who has more than 35 IQ points."

Ares continued to look embarrassed while Athena just huffed in exasperation.

"Now," Zeus declared. "If we can actually begin reading again without any more stupid comments!"

_Boys!_ Artemis rolled her eyes in amusement.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"You probably are psycho, Perry," Dionysus murmured sourly.

"You know, Chiron," Persephone interrupted, "couldn't you have told him what was happening by now? I mean, he's obviously going to find out soon. If you'd have simply told him straight after the fight, you'd have spared him and yourself a lot of grief."

"She has got a point," Hades agreed softly, earning him a blinding smile and a kiss on the cheek in return. "Why didn't you?"

"How d'you expect me to know the answer to that?" he appeared flustered. "From this point of view, yes it would have made more sense to just tell the boy the truth, but we don't know what other factors they are in the future stopping me."

"See this is why I always skip to the end of the book," Apollo muttered. "A lot less reading and you find out about things much faster."

"Apollo!" Athena gasped at him, immensely shocked.

"What? You really expect me to believe you've never done it?" he defended himself.

"No, it's not that," she replied, "I just didn't know you could read."

"Al right," Artemis grinned, high fiving her in triumph, as Apollo just glared evilly at them.

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

"Who hesitates when they lie?" Hermes ranted to the book, "I mean, every kindergartner knows that hesitation is a sure sign of lying! It's written in all the books!"

**Something was going on. Something **_**had **_**happened at the museum.**

"Yes, something did happen!" Ares yelled. "Get it through your dumb head that you were attacked and nearly killed by a monster already!"

"Ares honey," Aphrodite called to him gently, "you do realise you're yelling at a book, don't you?

"Pfft, and your point is exactly?" he scoffed as she chose to kindly remain silent. "Yeah, that's right!"

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"The poor child," Hestia whispered quietly. "He really needs to be told soon, as it's really starting to have a negative effect on his health."

Poseidon could only nod worriedly in agreement.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"I swear," Zeus threatened darkly, "if one of you has so much as touched my lightning bolt…"

"I haven't," they answered in unison, causing Zeus to glare suspiciously at them for a few moments before signalling for Hestia to continue.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from D's to F's.**

"Okay," Athena started, "I know that the boy has a lot on his mind right now, but this is just pure laziness! I mean," she vented, "does he even know what study means?"

"We can't all be child genius's sis," Apollo defended his young nephew, and Poseidon felt instantly grateful to him: making a mental promise to buy him something nice when this was all over.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends.**

"Good boy!" Ares cheered. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Hurmph!" Athena snorted rudely in distaste.

**I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

"Never mind," encouraged Hermes, "education just isn't your type of thing."

"S'not mine either," Ares and Apollo agreed, causing Athena to frown at them even more.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Athena sighed in exasperation, "it means…"

"We don't want to know, walking dictionary!" Apollo smiled sweetly, where Poseidon could swear he saw puffs of steam coming out of Athena's ears as she all but shook in rage.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

"Good riddance!" Poseidon said, "because it was a rubbish school anyway!"

"Yeah!" the trio agreed.

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side,**

"Awww!" the goddesses cooed at him , with the exception of Athena, thinking him to be so sweet and adorable.

**Even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Poseidon's smile faltered suddenly. _Stepfather ?Percy had a step father? Since when? _His expression darkened. _Obnoxious? Poker parties? Percy was being looken after properly, wasn't he?_

The others present felt suddenly tense.

**And yet… there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange.**

**I was worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"Isn't it ironic that it's supposed to be the other way around?" Dionysus commented dryly.

"Idiotic Satyr," Zeus grumbled. "He had better do his job right _this_ time around."

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

Chiron smiled at that, surprised at the boy's admittance of liking him.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

His smile widened further.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-or-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"See, Chiron," Hestia smiled at him, "we told you that the boy will grow to like and appreciate you."

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology **_**across my dorm room.**

Athena gasped in outrage at the boy's open disrespect to literature and intellect, almost unaware of the quiet laughter that passed her by.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

**Or Polydictes and Polydeuces.**

"How could he not?" exclaimed Hades, "they're two completely different beings!"

"He probably means," Suggested Chiron logically, feeling a stronger need course though him to defend the young boy "that he can hardly tell the difference in spelling them: not the actual characters."

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

The trio felt instantly sorry for him, as well as insanely glad that it wasn't them in that awful situation. _Tests! _They all shuddered visibly in horror.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

"Interesting description," Dionysus smirked, "maybe I should try that as a new punishment in camp, and get the little brats to tell me afterwards exactly how it feels."

"You know you're evil, right?" Apollo scowled at him, making a mental not to tell his children to be on their best behaviour for a little while.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before**

"Well," Athena commented, a lot calmer than before, seeing that the young demigod had indeed make an attempt – if only a small one – to excel in his education. "Maybe it's time you gave it a try, as you never know: you might learn something."

**Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

Athena even smiled at the boy, liking his new attitude, and wondering confusedly why he just couldn't excel himself in school like any of her children.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,**

"… **worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

"Mmmm," Hermes grinned. "Percy, Percy, Percy – I'm liking this side of you."

"Eavesdropping?" questioned Hera, "I thought that was your children's trait, Hermes."

Poseidon just rolled his eyes, "it can be anyone's trait," he said. "For example, Just because Zeus acts all bossy and full of pride: it doesn't stop anyone else being that way too."

Zeus just glared at his brother in distaste, as Poseidon stared back at him cheerfully, and even gave him a little wink: infuriating his brother even more.

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"Okay," Persephone agreed, "I think I'd probably lose that bet."

A chorus of 'me too's' circled the room sheepishly, causing the adults such as Hades and his siblings to roll their eyes in amusement.

**I inched closer.**

"… **alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school**_**! Now that we know for sure, and **_**they **_**know too—"**

"Who's they…?" Apollo started to ask, but was shushed quickly by Athena, who was leaning forward on her throne in curiosity over the answer.

"**We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

Poseidon glared at Chiron. "And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, I haven't said it yet, have I?" Chiron replied.

"**But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line—"**

"What deadline?" they all asked.

"SHHHH!" Athena said, her face scrunched up in concentration.

"**Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"I take it back, Chiron," Persephone whispered to him, "that was a really sweet thing you did- or are going to do….ah, you know what I mean!"

"Yes," he smiled, "thank you."

"**Sir, he **_**saw**_** her… ."**

"**His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"Thank you," Poseidon said seriously to Chiron, "for trying to protect my son – I owe you much."

Athena just glared at him.

_Touchy…!_

"**Sir, I … I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

_You better not fail_, Poseidon hissed, _or I will be forced to side with my brother and immediately file for your death, no matter how good a friend you appear to be with my son!_

"**You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

"Well," Hephaestus commented, "that's a highly comforting thing to hear."

"Well, obviously, Grover and Chiron don't know that he is listening in on them." Demeter explained patiently.

"But what's so important about the summer deadline!" Athena groaned, as if in pain, "and what does it have to do with the stolen lightning bolt and Poseidon's and Zeus' arguments?"

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Great," Hermes moaned, closing his eyes, "now the idiot's given away his position! Grab the book and retreat! Retreat!"

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

As did everyone in the room.

_Run, run, run, run, run_, Hermes pleaded. _Do something! Don't just stand there like a plank of wood_! He groaned mentally – _must I be forced to teach you my evil ways too?_

"Hermes," Poseidon glared at him. "You better not be thinking about teaching my son any of our dastardly tricks and/or cons!"

"H-how did you know?" he stammered at his now menacing looking Uncle.

"Because I know you," he growled.

Hermes gulped involuntarily.

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

_Good boy, _Hermes complimented him_. Now just retreat a little faster…_

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Okay," Hephaestus commented, "I get that you're now in your centaur form, but what would you need a bow for when there's no danger?"

"I'm probably just looking at it," the centaur answered, "as I do enjoy being around and examining different types of weapons: trying to figure out which one is most effective for the particular purpose it's needed for. Call it a hobby."

The females just stared at him strangely. "I think it's high time," Hera said, "that we help you find a new hobby."

"Preferably one which would give you some much needed social skills," added a smiling Aphrodite.

"I'll think about it…" the centaur replied meekly.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop,**_** like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.**

"Would you really risk exposure like that, Chiron?" Zeus tuted at the heroic trainer. "You really should be more careful in future."

"He was probably thinking," Athena said, "that if there was an intruder, and it was a mortal, the mist would activate and there would be no problem. Where if it happened to be one of the dangers that they're on the look out for, he'd kill them swiftly before they'd have time to go after Percy."

Zeus murmured an apology to Chiron, who struggled not to grin as he watched the god being taken down a peg.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

"Now he definitely needs a shower before he even thinks about doing something else," Aphrodite groaned, whilst the others simply shook their heads at her shallowness.

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"**Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn …"**

"I feel sorry for the two of them," Hestia commented. "Whatever might be going on, they're having a horrible time dealing with it."

"What I wish to know," Athena sighed impatently, "is why these events are connected to this boy. It's obvious that he hasn't done anything to warrant such behaviour from anybody."

The others just shook their heads in bewilderment.

"**Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

"**Don't remind me."**

"Sucker," Dionysus grinned at the Satyr's suffering, as the trio groaned in horror at the mention of exams.

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. **

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"That's a little better," Hermes commented on the Satyr's performance, "now just keep it up."

"**Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

"**You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"**Just… tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression.**

"That's not going to work, son," Poseidon sighed, knowing that Satyr's could sense emotions of a person easily.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

The others groaned loudly at this.

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back.**

**They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

_You are_, Poseidon whispered frantically, wishing desperately he could help his son.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,** **My eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

"Please do not start," Athena eyed Ares pleadingly, who was about to launch into another demeaning lecture at the poor centaur.

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

"**Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's … it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Poseidon glowered at him menacingly. "Can I?"

"Way to make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside Chiron." Apollo said while Ares continued to glare at him.

"I'm sure," Demeter defended him, "that he didn't mean for it to come out quite like that: or to say it in front of the other children around him."

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say.**

**"This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

"How could you do that to him?" Hermes said in astonishment. "I never thought that you, of all people, would kick a person whilst he's down."

"And you were his favourite teacher," Hephaestus added glumly. "you've probably scarred him for life now."

The ground began to shook dangerously, alarming them even more.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, his expression mortified. "I'm sure I never meant to hurt him- more than likely I was trying to comfort him! Maybe I really do need those social lessons after all."

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal,**

"Ouch," Dionysus winced, shaking his head at Chiron, who further buried his face in his hands.

"I can see how he's trying to comfort him," Hades said suddenly, causing the others to frown – as he was not known for sticking up for people, other than his wife and children of course. "but seriously: stop talking. Otherwise you'll burry yourself in a hole even deeper than the one you've currently found yourself in."

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"**Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

"**Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

"Poor boy," Persephone whispered sadly.

"I can only imagine what grades that child will have now," Athena shuddered in horror.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich**_** juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Not quite," Hermes grinned kindly, "you'll soon find out you're much better than them all."

Poseidon smiled, comforted slightly by Hermes' kind words.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

"**Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

The others continued to feel immensely sorry for the boy, saddened even more that they couldn't actually be there in his presence to comfort him.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,** **So there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"That was nice of him," Aphrodite smiled.

"Nice?" Dionysus questioned, shaking his head at the woman's lack of functioning brain cells. "He has to follow him wherever he goes, in case there's danger and they need to make a quick get away."

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"Ooh," Apollo ooed, "I bet that makes him jump."

"It would probably make myself jump," Hermes admitted, "especially if it's done out of the blue. Well done, Percy."

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat.**

Light laughter erupted from the room.

**"Wha—what do you mean?"**

Hermes shook his head, grinning, "Don't even try to lie. You're completely busted."

"Game over," Apollo agreed.

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much **_**did **_**you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Yeah" said half the gods, leaning in, eager to hear the answer.

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."**

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

**His ears turned pink.**

"Just give up," Hermes advised. "Then you'll find things will appear much simpler."

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 099-0009**_

Zeus groaned at the Satyr's lack of thought, "why would any self respecting Satyr give a demigod the written address of the camp: especially when it's written in English and decorated fancily and elegantly?"

Dionysus whistled innocently, commenting on the absolutely glorious weather that shone outside, as the gods glowered at him hatefully.

"**What's Half—"**

"**Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um … summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"Nothing's coming out right today, is it?" Hephaestus commented, as the others smiled sympathetically at the characters.

"**Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or …or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

"Ouch," Apollo winced, "tough kid."

"He's just trying to protect himself," defended Persephone, "from being hurt any worse than what he has already been today."

"Poor kid," sighed Demeter.

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

"I wonder why," Ares grinned, "that he's having a little trouble swallowing that?"

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me.**_

"Aww," the goddesses cooed at him, adoring his kindness and willingness to do anything to keep his friend safe.

"No offence," Ares said to Demeter and Dionysus, "but that Satyr really is a wimp."

Zeus and Poseidon could only nod in agreement.

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Good question," Dionysus smirked, "now be a dear and answer the question that we're all _dying_ to know."

**There was a huge grinding noise under out feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

"That's ominous…" Hades said, only to be shushed rudely by Poseidon, as Hestia kept on reading.

**The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

"I bet they wished now that they had our cool new vehicles to ride home on," Ares gloated as the other two laughed in amusement and sent him numerous high fives.

"Personally," Artemis glared at the trio, "I'd prefer to walk home."

"Ouch."

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice**_**.**_

"Would you like to reconsider that rash statement of walking home, sis," Apollo grinned, "after all, there's always room for one more. Think about it," Apollo smiled, "it could give you fruit whenever you want!"

"Or she just could by some fruit off the stand," Athena smiled sweetly back at him.

"Face it brother," Artemis said, "your vehicle sucks."

"You think that now, he muttered darkly, "but just you wait….you'll learn the error of your ways…you'll see!"

The girl's just stared at him oddly for a moment, before hastily signalling to Hestia to continue with the chapter.

**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"I'm sure they're the fates," Athena whispered. "It sounds just like them."

"But what are they doing here?" Hades asked in bewilderment.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

"You don't think…" Demeter began, but she didn't need to finish because everyone was thinking the same thing.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

"They seriously need one hell of a makeover," Aphrodite erupted suddenly, causing the others to groan at her in exasperation.

"This is so not the time for this, darling," Hephaestus glared at his wife, shocked and frustrated by her lack of concentration.

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"Great, just great." Poseidon said weakly, his head in his hands.

"Run away!" Apollo suggested.

"That won't make a blind bit of difference and you know it," Athena sighed softly.

"But you just couldn't have played along?" he replied moodily. "You know, giving us all a little bit of hope and all that?"

"Fine," she huffed. "He's going to be absolutely fine and will find a way out of this deadly situation just like the last one."

"Aw," sighed Ares, relaxing back into his throne, "what a relief!"

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

"**Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

"**Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

Poseidon was doing his best not to wail in despair at his son's cruel fate, as Persephone and Hera kindly got up from their thrones and embraced the increasingly upset and moody sea god.

"**Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Oh," growled Artemis darkly, "that is so not funny!"

The others agreed, still racked with tension.

"**Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears.**

"This is not good. This is _really_ not good." Poseidon said through his hands, as the women embraced him even tighter, whispering words of comfort in his ear.

Zeus leaned – uncharacteristically- towards his brother in comfort. "Do not despair yet, brother," he told him gently, "and do not give up on the boy this early on. Whatever happens here, he still has time to turn things around: to fix things. To be okay."

"And since we're now aware of the situation," added Hades, "it is much more possible to change things for the better."

"You're right, of course," Poseidon sniffed, sitting back up strongly upon his godly throne as the women returned slowly to their seats, "now is not the time to give up on my son. If he doesn't give up, neither will I."

"That's the spirit," Hestia smiled up at him warmly before continuing onwards.

**I heard Grover catch his breath.**

"**We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

_It won't make the slightest difference,_ Athena sighed, miserably. _The fates appeared to you for a reason_, she went on, _therefore they won't let you leave until you have witnessed what you must._

**What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"**Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

Poseidon groaned inwardly. _His son definitely didn't try to make things any easier for him, that's for sure! _

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear the **_**snip**_** across four lanes of traffic.**

Everyone in the room looked down sadly at the beautiful tiled floor, desperately not wanting to think that this adorable boy would soon meet a tragic end.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

The trio smiled at this, despite the sadness that was weighing heavily down upon them.

"Whatever you say about him," Artemis said softly, "he's very brave."

He others nodded in agreement.

_Or very stupid…_

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

"Pfft," snorted Apollo in disgust. "_Now_ it works!"

Hephaestus too, shook his head in amazement.

"**Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"It's probably the after shock of what just happened," Athena stated calmly, before the others could comment upon the situation, "where his body's cooling down after the rapid rush of adrenalin he'd just experienced."

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

"**Grover?" **

"**Yeah?"**

"**What are you not telling me?"**

"Everything." Hermes answered, shaking his head.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

"**You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like … Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"They're worse." Everyone said.

"Way worse," agreed Poseidon sadly, _but you can beat them: you have to!_

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

"**The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

"**Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"Now what on earth could have given you that impression?" Dionysus spoke darkly, as, although he'd never mention it out loud, he was beginning to feel sorry for – and actually like! – the young boy.

"Shut it!" Artemis growled, wishing she could desperately get rid of the feeling of absolute helplessness that was attempting to suffocate her.

_Please be okay….._

"**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like last time."**

"Well," answered Hades, "neither do we."

"And it won't." Poseidon said in sudden and absolute determination, glaring hard at Zeus and Hades. "Right?"

They looked at each other for a moment, before agreeing softly in unison, "Right."

Satisfied, Poseidon motioned Hestia to keep reading.

"**What last time?"**

"**Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"**Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

Zeus sighed in sadness, as everyone sent him a sudden look of sympathy. _My daughter_, he whispered in longing. _If I can stop the same thing from happening again, _he thought in sudden earnest_, maybe it will help me with my grief and to move on_. _Maybe. Just maybe._

"**Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could. **

"**Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

"**Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

_Probably_, Persephone agreed tearfully, feeling Hades' arms circle around her in comfort. _I promise Percy,_ she whispered, _even if you die in that lifetime, I will do my very best to make sure you don't die in this one!_

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"And that's the end of this chapter," Hestia said quietly.

Nobody had the heart to speak for a few minutes.

"Well," Dionysus sighed, breaking the silence, "that chapter certainly was depressing."

"Are you sure we just can't skip to the end?" Apollo tried again, "because we're probably just worrying over nothing."

"No, we can't," Athena's voice was unwavering. "Because if we do, we could miss highly important information that could be relevant for the next book."

"I think," Hera said, standing up, "that we should have another quick break before continuing with the next chapter: to give us a chance to shake us of this melancholy and depressed feeling we have."

"I agree to that," Zeus declared, also standing up. "We'll have a one hour break again, where I expect you to return promptly back to begin reading."

With that, he and Hera exited the room in style, leaving the others to sit in an uncomfortable silence.

"So," Poseidon started smiling in earnest, "wants to go down to earth to have a peak at my son with me?"

_**(A.N. And that's the end of my fifth chapter. A lot more depressing than the rest (sadly) because of the fates. It'll probably be the same the next chapter as well, because of the incident with Percy's mum, but will try to keep it as light as I can. Thanks again for the reviews I've received: they've been really helpful **____** Remember you can always review me if you've got any interesting suggestions or ideas too, where I'll always be happy to read them. Thanks again, **_

_**T.T.F.N)**_


	6. Love, Angst and Forgetful Satyrs

_**(A.N. Thank you again guys for reviewing: nice to know that my work's appreciated and adored. Thank you also to the ones that have- mostly unknowingly- helped me to write and develop different ideas that you'll more than likely see in future chapters.**_

_**Okay, because some readers have been looking forward to hear about Poseidon's trip to see Minnie Percy on earth I've lengthened this part for you to hopefully enjoy it better. However it didn't go exactly as I planned… **_

_**Now, without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy!)**_

**Chapter 6 = Love, Angst and Forgetful Satyrs**

_(The scene begins with the characters about to head off to see Percy. However, an incident (nothing irregular in their line of work, as they constantly deal with a number of incidents on a daily basis) has just occurred on earth that needed the god's attention, and as they're gods, they must drop everything to attend to the problem. )_

In the end, it simply wasn't possible for all the gods to go and visit present Percy. For one, having that many gods and goddesses around one young demigod on earth – even for a short period of time - could have disastrous effects for him: such as signalling numerous powerful monsters to his side like a beacon.

As Athena attempted to discover a way around the current problem, a disastrous and highly problematic incident had suddenly occurred on earth, whereupon Hephaestus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares and even Athena herself rushed off in haste to stop any further damage from occurring. Dionysus followed after them shortly, having to warn the demigod camp – as their temporarily leader and care taker – to stay alert and prepared for anything.

Hades, after much fuss, left too, having to deal with the sudden increase of dead souls on his doorstep. After little deliberation, Persephone turned and followed her husband, in attempt to cheer him up and make the task itself run much faster and smoother. At this, Demeter sighed loudly and stalked after her daughter in bewilderment, wondering where all her good sense had vanished to.

This suddenly left Poseidon, Hestia, Artemis, Hermes and Chiron standing in the centre of the room, with only half an hour left of their break.

"Does anybody else need to go," Poseidon asked finally, after waiting a few more minutes, "before we head to earth?" everyone shook their head in disagreement.

"I take it we'll all be cloaked with invisibility?" Artemis stated, as Poseidon nodded.

"This should be interesting," smiled Hestia. "I have not been on earth for some time now."

Chiron clamoured back into his wheelchair as an extra safety precaution. Immediately afterwards, Poseidon waved his hands and they were instantly transported to stand directly outside their apartment.

"It looks," Artemis said, starting to walk up the steps, "so confining. It's definitely a huge contrast to my open forests, or your vast sea."

Poseidon sighed. "I once offered Sally so much more than this. But she was a rebellious woman – quite like myself – and one of such independence that she told me she'd rather earn her own money to buy the things she wants than to accept the money from another."

"She sounds almost unbelievable," Hermes said softly, lost in thought.

"She is unbelievable," Poseidon smiled, opening the front door of the apartment.

As they continued to enter, they found the place arranged rather neatly –albeit a few magazines, some stray playing cards and an odd empty can or two sitting on the coffee table and the kitchen counter. But overall, the place was decorated beautifully, where the walls and the apartment's objects successfully conveyed the optimistic personalities of the two happy characters that were living here. A sound came from down the hall, where, when entering the room they found a young boy of nine years old sprawled lazily across his bed, with a bag of chips and a glass of soda in easy reach, watching television and laughing hysterically.

"He looks just like a Minnie you," Artemis smiled at the boy despite herself.

"Aw," Hestia sighed, quickly closing the gap between her and the boy. "He definitely has your eyes brother," she smiled warmly, "and your hair, and your bone structure. As Aphrodite would say if she were here," she grimaced slightly at the thought, " he seems to have inherited all your positive traits and then some."

"And I hate to have to say this," Hermes grinned at his gleeful Uncle, "but when he grows up that kid is going to be hot – even hotter than me!" he joked, "which is so damn near impossible I never thought it could happen."

Poseidon laughed in good humour, clapping his young nephew by the shoulder. "Believe it, Hermes," he chuckled, "as he'll soon grow up to become someone of high importance."

Hermes' cheeky response was interrupted by Hestia's delightful laughter. As Poseidon, Hermes and Artemis turned towards the noise they found Hestia and Chiron huddled together over a picture of him and his mother: taking only a couple of months prior.

"She is positively delightful," Chiron agreed with Hestia. "with quite a bit of intelligence shining through her eyes. You can also see her rebellious nature by her expression."

"So, between the both of you, the boy never really had a chance," Hermes went on, glancing over Hestia's shoulders to peep at the picture, "to be a quiet and well-behaved child. He must feel so deprived!"

Artemis playfully slapped him over his head in amusement. "Please," she scoffed. "What child nowadays is quiet and well-behaved?"

"And besides," Poseidon went on, grinning at Hermes as if in triumph, glancing happily at his sons happy face, "you really can't say much against this situation, seeing as most of the monkeys that you call your children are wild, misbehaved hooligans that will – in lack of a better word – prank you just as soon as they see you!"

"They do that," Hermes' grinned, "to show a person how much they care for them: so don't belittle their methods!"

"What is he watching?" Artemis asked in bewilderment, causing the gods to collect their focus and look at the television screen.

"The Little mermaid by the looks of it," Chiron answered, well aware of the popular things to watch of the time, thanks to the numerous children who had helpfully informed him.

As Hermes opened his mouth to comment on, most likely, would have been Percy's film choice, Poseidon warned him: "you tell anyone about this," he whispered into his ear, "and I'll tell everyone about the Oliver Twist Appreciation Club your spawn holds every Tuesday evening on the beach beside the trees!"

Hermes gulped and remained silent sulkily.

"Where's his mother right now?" Hestia asked curiously, after searching the contents of the boy's room with much interest, as she noticed that the rest of the house was empty. "Surely she wouldn't leave him alone for long?"

"I haven't had the opportunity to visit him for some months now, due to business at the palace," he confessed to them. "The last time I checked, Percy was away at boarding school and his mother was working locally. I guess now he's home for the holidays, where I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Uh-oh," Artemis cursed silently, as she leaned forward to stare out of the open window.

"What's up, sis?" Hermes moved to try to get a closer look.

"I just saw a male entering this building carrying a brown package that I'm guessing holds some groceries."

"So?" Hermes asked confused as Poseidon frowned. "Is there anything illegal about that?"

"Well, no," she whispered to him, shaking her head at his ignorance. "But it might be…you know…"

"The stepfather?" Chiron asked, rather loudly, proving further is lack of social skills.

Poseidon barely had time to growl a response before the front door was kicked open and a rather pudgy and balding man came hurtling in. as he put his package – which turned out to be a case of beer- on the counter he looked in disgust at the mess that cluttered the rooms.

"Boy!" he hollered loudly, causing Percy to hastily sober up and turn his television off. "Come in here, now!"

Poseidon's eyes started to glow a violent green, where the earth beneath their feet started ever so slightly to tremble. "How dare he?"

"Brother," Hestia said, moving to wrap her tiny body around his in comfort, "you must not lose your temper. Not here: and not so close to the boy."

"Phew!" Hermes and Artemis – who were standing a lot closer to Gabe – cursed violently. "He reeks worse than the time Apollo and Ares left those fish and cheese pies in the throne room vents for 5 and a half months!"

Hestia quickly scrunched up her nose in disgust as Poseidon only glowered even more.

Percy walked moodily up to the fat, pasty man, who had just sat down in the living room chair, opened up a can of beer and continued to stare at some newly bought magazines. As he saw Percy coming, a scowl of dislike appeared on his face, which infuriated Poseidon all the more.

"Look here, boy,-" he started, only to be interrupted.

"Stop calling me boy, Gabe," Percy argued, "I do have a name you know, and it wouldn't hurt you to start using it."

"You go, Percy!" cheered Hermes softly, as Artemis continued to watch the seen unfold worryingly.

"And it wouldn't kill you, you little brat," he grumbled as he took a long swig, "to show some respect towards your stepfather."

"How dare he?" raged Poseidon at Gabe, who belched loudly, as he found it almost impossible to keep himself from blasting the fatter man into piles of kelp at his feet.

"Also," Gabe continued, "seeing as you've been kicked out of school _again_ because of your criminal antics, you'd better start making yourself useful and earn your keep around this house."

"_Earn my keep?"_ Percy almost chocked at the words.

"Precisely," the bulging man smiled. "After all, we all have to work harder now that you're not in school, to keep this family floating upright. And seeing that most of our money problems are now down because of you," he continued, "I think it's totally fair and highly reasonable that you should have to pay us back every penny."

_WHAT? _Hermes' eyes widened in astonishment, as he was sorely tempted to do something that he'd most probably regret.

"_What_?" Percy said outraged.

"And I think I'll start off by demanding that £12 you had left over from last semester, as a sign of good faith in our new agreement. Call it our little 'guy secret.`"

"And if I refuse?" Percy looked at the man in hatred.

"Then," he said, suddenly on his feet he marched over to where Percy was standing, grabbed him by the front of his jacket and shoved him roughly against the wall, "it'll prove how selfish you really are, where I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"WHAT?" Poseidon roared, trying to grab the man's massive neck to release Percy from his grasp and to slowly choke the life out of him.

"Brother no!" Hestia shouted, as Hermes and Artemis tackled him to the ground and tried their best to hold him back.

"I have to kill him: let me go!" he hissed, the ground shaking even more.

"Brother, please listen to me!" little Hestia called, forcing him to stare into her blazing eyes. "You can't go after that man now!"

"Give me one good reason why not!"

"Because we haven't finished reading the books yet!"

"And your point is what?"

"Yeah," Hermes interrupted, currently sitting on top of his Uncle, struggling to keep his hands tied firmly behind his back. "Why are we trying to stop him from decking the guy? Hell, I want to too – that miserable little -"

"We can't," Artemis told him, struggling to keep his legs locked together on the floor, "because we don't know how much influence he's got in the books yet. I mean, if his influence is basically none, yeah we can kill him right now: but if it's a lot more than that, it could make Percy's life turn out a whole lot worse than it actually is!"

"Just for now," Hestia promised him, still keeping eye contact, "we do nothing to him. Just for now we'll pretend this never happened and we'll walk away. But I promise, brother, that when we finish the books, he will pay for his treatment of Percy, whether it'll be done instantly after the last chapter or a couple of years after. I promise you on the River Sticks, Poseidon, that we'll make this Gabe character suffer horribly for his crime, but after we know that Percy won't be hurt because of it."

Poseidon lay silently for a few moments, as if in deep thought. Finally he sighed and said, "Okay, you guys can let go of me: I promise I'll behave myself."

As they slowly let go of him, he looked anxiously around the room. "Where have they gone?" he asked this sister worriedly.

"I-I'm not sure," she confessed. "We were concentrating so much on trying to calm you down, we didn't notice. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive, sister," he smiled tightly as he embraced her, "though I'll hold you strongly to that oath."

"As soon as we know it won't harm Percy," she promised, hugging him back.

"Um, we really should be going now," Hermes said, looking nervous. "Apollo just messaged me, saying that we're over 45 minutes late."

"But wouldn't they be too?" Chiron asked him, as everyone instantly stood up. "Seeing as the incident that was reported was so devastating?"

"The person who sent us word of the incident was clearly over exaggerating the problem, where most of the gods reappeared back in the throne room around 15 minutes after they left. He says that Zeus is seriously loosing his temper."

"Then we really should be on our way," the centaur declared, as Poseidon got ready to send them back.

The last word that was said before the group was swallowed in a blinding light was from Artemis, who murmured, "I wonder what would have happened if all of us did come to see the boy after all…"

The small group arrived back at the throne room already emotionally tired and frustrated, only to have Zeus erupt angrily at them.

"And what on earth has taken you so long to arrive back?" he hollered blackly, glancing around at the gods already seated in their thrones. "Do any of you, perhaps, remember what time I announced that we'd all meet back here to read the Third Chapter?"

"AN HOUR," they chorused in monotone, after hearing Zeus vent about it for the past half an hour.

"Brother," replied Hestia, who was attempting to win Zeus over with her best puppy dog eyes expression. "Please don't be angry with us: we've had an emotionally tiring time."

"Is the boy okay?" Zeus asked, sounding genuinely worried, as Poseidon's expression portrayed sadness – before he recollected himself and looked as normal.

"We just ran into a problem with his stepfather," Artemis explained to him vaguely, "who was unreasonably cruel to the boy. But we've come to an arrangement about how to deal with it," she added, not wanting to reveal to much to everyone, as it was Poseidon's business and not her own, "and are now ready to begin reading the third chapter."

"Right," Zeus approved, "Very well said. Now, are there any volunteers?"

"I will," Artemis said, grabbing the book from her father's hands.

"Fine," Hera smiled warmly at her, "then you may begin."

"The third chapter is called, "**Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants**," she read in distaste.

Immediate laughter erupted from the room.

"Now," Hades smirked, apparently in a good mood for a change, "what do you suppose happens in this chapter?"

"Um," Apollo said innocently, trying to lighten the atmosphere, "the Satyr fancied to go for a swim in a nearby lake and forgot where he put his clothes?"

"Or they were stolen," Ares suggested.

"Oh, please, darling," Aphrodite scoffed, "who would want to steal clothes from a Satyr? Especially since they're all obviously victims of fashion!"

"I think," Athena said reasonably over the various chuckles, "that this is the part where Percy finally discovers the true identity of the Satyr."

"Mmm," Zeus murmured in thought, "that does sound like the most plausible explanation: even though it's not the most comical. If it were up to me to decide, I would decide on Ares' suggestion."

"Just tell me when, father," Ares grinned, "and I will find the nearest Satyr for you and steal their clothing."

"That would be kinda cool to watch," Hermes smiled, his mood lightening, "especially if Apollo and I go with you, dressed all in black with black ski-masks covering our faces to back you up."

"Ares can even hold a gun to him," Apollo nodded in excitement, "to make it look like a real mugging. I bet we'll really confuse them then!"

Poseidon grinned at the comical thought, "I really think you should let them do it soon," he agreed with a surprised looking Zeus, "maybe even during the next break?"

"The only conditions I'll give you are," he smiled, "not to actually hurt them, and Grover himself must be present."

"Agreed," the trio grinned in anticipation.

"Now," Zeus commanded to Artemis, "read on."

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"Urm," Hephaestus stated, "that probably wasn't the smartest idea."

"Whoever said that Percy was smart?" Athena said, raising an eyebrow at the smith god.

Friendly laughter echoed the room.

**I know, I know. It was rude.**

"Highly rude," Artemis muttered to herself, before continuing.

**But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"**

"I guess that would freak you out," Persephone agreed.

"Then it's not only Chiron that needs those social lessons," Aphrodite smirked a little, earning a small glare from the centaur. "I'm just saying!"

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom.**

"The Satyr really should have known better," Demeter rolled her eyes. "I mean, he's been around Percy for what – a couple of months now? I would've thought he'd have known enough about Percy to realise what he'd do."

"But he was desperate," Athena rationalised promptly, "where he really thought the boy would keep his promise –" she glared suddenly at Poseidon, who caught _the like father, like son_ insult that was in her voice. "Besides," he carried on, "it's not like he could tie him up to stop him from running."

Poseidon wisely decided to ignore the comment.

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

Hestia smiled warmly, remembering the loving picture of the two of them standing side by side.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, **

Poseidon grinned in agreement, remembering all the happy memories he'd had with her in the past. _If only I didn't have to leave you…_

**which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

"That is a truth universally acknowledged." Zeus replied sadly, shaking his head in the sudden reminder of his poor daughter.

Hermes also looked down at his hands in sadness, and remembrance. _If only I'd tried harder, _he pressed, _I could have prevented what had happened to her. I could have made things better for him. Now it's too late…_

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five,**

Zeus grimaced at the thought as Hera turned to frown at him.

"It wasn't intentional," he whispered into her ear, as Hera nodded her acceptance and went back to focusing on the book.

**and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program.**

Athena smiled pleasantly in thought of this woman, as she always did whenever someone chose to commit themselves to the educational world.

"I'm pleasantly surprised, uncle," she said to him, "that you have finally found someone with a beautifully working mind as well – I'm certain – as a beautiful body."

Poseidon glared slightly at her, not sure whether to be pleased or insulted at her comment.

"At least the boy had some brain cells up for inheriting," she continued, as close to a joking tone as she was ever going to get, "as he certainly was never going to get any from you."

"Owned," Apollo winced smilingly. He turned to his Uncle, "you had better come up with a good retaliation pretty quickly or Athena's won this round."

Poseidon continued to glare at her, signalling at the smiling Artemis to continue.

**Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma**.

The other gods sighed in dismay at her poor misfortune.

"She truly does deserve so much better than this," Demeter whispered, where the others could do nothing but nod.

Athena bowed her head sadly, and made a promise. _I swear when this is over_, she thought, _that if her desire of learning doesn't fade I will do all that's in my power to correct her fate to help her accomplish her academic wishes in any way that she sees fit. _

Poseidon smiled sadly at this, but he was unable to interfere, knowing that she'd rather live her life herself –as hard as it might be- than to allow others to make it better for her.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

Poseidon's smile widened, as a chorus of "aw's" filled the room.

"She's really smitten for you, isn't she?" Apollo smiled kindly at him.

"And I for her," he murmured softly, finding comfort in their words.

Aphrodite frowned suddenly. She closed her eyes for a couple of moments, as if in concentration, before opening them widely and gasping.

"Is something wrong, darling?" Hephaestus asked her, slightly concerned by her behaviour.

As the eyes of the room stared at her in bewilderment, she plastered on a smiling face, "No I'm fine. Please continue reading."

Meanwhile inside she was left reeling from the discovery she had just made. _Not only do they love each other so strongly that it hurts, _she whispered inwardly, _but they're soul mates_…

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. **

"I did visit you once whilst you were just a baby," he admitted, having the sympathy of the whole room behind him, "unknown to your mother of course." _Though I'm extremely surprised you've remembered something from so long ago._

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

Aphrodite suddenly felt the pain of her heartache, as it crashed around her like waves upon rocks. _There must be something I can do_, she grimaced, _to stop her pain and to help them be together- like how they're supposed to be. _

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"She's sneaky," Apollo chuckled.

"Quite," Dionysus agreed, "it's _technically_ not a lie, as he _is_ the sea."

"No wonder you like her," Aphrodite tried, "she is quite a catch after all."

"Just don't tell that to Amphitrite," he muttered darkly, as Aphrodite sighed, deflated.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

Even Hera, who highly disapproved of her family sleeping with mortals, had to admire the woman's strength and determination to persevere through anything, no matter how hard it may be.

_We definitely need someone like that introduced to this family_, she sighed in longing, _if only in attempt to straighten some specific members out into true ladies and gentlemen. Too bad Amphitrite couldn't have been more like this_, she whispered, and _someone who actually wished to spend some time with them, and not lounge in her underwater kingdom 24/7 like a stubborn child_.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano,**

Poseidon smiled darkly, holding onto the promise of swift retaliation.

_Just you wait,_ Gabe, he promised sweetly, _you'll soon get what's coming to you._

**who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him,**

"And I bet that's Percy being generous," Hermes huffed in disgust.

"Someone really needs to teach that guy a lesson," Ares scowled, as Poseidon's smile widened.

"All in good time, nephew, all in good time."

**then showed his true colours as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like mouldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"I still don't understand," Aphrodite commented, "why on earth she married him. It obviously wasn't his charming personality, or his attractive good looks. And it's way too late for her to be on the rebound: so I don't get it."

"I believe," Athena said, "that she married this revolting man in attempt to hide the boy's scent from nearby monsters."

"That's so noble of her," Hera smiled, "to be willing to do anything to protect her son."

"A real star," Apollo agreed. "I just wish all my children's mothers could be more like her."

A chorus of agreements went swept the room, nearly sending Poseidon into floods of tears. He loved her more than anything else on earth.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

"Uh-oh," Chiron and Hestia gulped, worriedly, hoping Poseidon would keep his temper this time.

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"Ew," Artemis cursed, "he's certainly got worse since we last saw him."

Hestia and Hermes nodded solemnly in agreement.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"_That's_ the way he greets his stepson?" Demeter sounded outraged.

"It gets worse," Artemis muttered, reading on.

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"I'm sorry, but did he just ask his stepson for _money_? What kind of self respecting man does that?" Hera looked appalled. "Especially since he hasn't seen him in a couple of months!"

"He's more of a _pig_ than a man." Artemis said venomously, as the others silently agreed.

**That was it. No **_**Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**_

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

Aphrodite and Persephone gagged violently, "Gross! If he thought that, even for a second, I swear he must be mentally deranged!"

Hephaestus nodded. "Even to me," he added, "the guy's a disgusting slob."

"Seriously, honey," Aphrodite blinked rapidly, trying to get the horrible vision out of her mind, "this guy makes you look like the hunk of the century!"

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting pay checks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

The other gods gasped in anger at Gabe's horrifying manner towards his stepson.

"How dare he demand money from Percy," Artemis vented further, "when he spends his own money on this useless rubbish?"

Poseidon replied, his face expressionless, "he won't be for much longer," he promised darkly.

Is suddenly dawned on the rest of them the true meaning of his words.

"Oh, yeah!" exclaimed Ares, as Apollo nodded in total agreement, "make sure you send him our love."

"And then some!"

"Totally!"

Poseidon grinned, "Oh, I will. I'll make sure of it."

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

Aphrodite almost gagged again.

"Just have a bath, will you?" she begged. "I swear it won't kill you!"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Athena stated, staring suspiciously at the sea god.

"It's too early yet," he simply said. "I'll only act against him when I'm sure that my actions won't have any negative consequences towards Percy."

"That's very wise of you," she complimented quietly, before turning back to the book.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"He's definitely a piece of work," Zeus grumbled in disgust.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"At least he's semi-decent." Dionysus huffed, "for what it's worth, anyway."

**"Am I **_**right**_**?**_**" **_**Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Aphrodite all but screamed in disgust.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"As do _we_." Hades muttered darkly, looking forward to soon seeing him in the underworld, where he can have his turn to punish the balding man.

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

"He has more right to than you, that's for sure!" Athena cursed.

"At least he tries to get by," agreed Hermes, "and will become someone important one day: which is more than I can say about you."

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

The group that had been in his room minutes before gasped in horror, as it's lovely homely atmosphere was transformed into something horrendous and unrecognisable.

"This is disgusting!" Artemis yelled, her hatred for men suddenly increasing, "it's a disgrace to women everywhere!"

"How can see put up with it?" Aphrodite agree. "I mean, I know it's for Percy's sake, but even I would've chucked him out long before now."

"I too," Hades agreed, "would rather take a risk with the monsters than stand one more minute under the same roof as him."

"It just shows how selfless she truly is," Hera said, adoring the mortal all the more, thinking her the perfect mother figure: where she suddenly grew jealous, knowing that she was not one of her children and therefore couldn't boast about it to her friends.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

The others sighed empathetically along with him.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds,** **or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

"Urgh!" Apollo said, disgusted. "If that's true I guess I was incredibly lucky to have been called away on business instead of going to earth with you guys."

"Extremely luck," Hermes said, rolling his eyes at him.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

"They probably are," Dionysus groaned at the boy's stupidity. "And congratulations on ditching the Satyr: the one person that could have helped you."

"Don't be too harsh to the boy," Demeter chided him, seeing Poseidon's expression darken somewhat. "You know he can't hear you."

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.**

"Aww." Aphrodite and Persephone cooed.

"She certainly can," Poseidon smiled warmly, as Zeus and Hades rolled their eyes at him.

**Her eyes sparkle and change colour in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"Somehow I really can't believe that," Apollo said.

"Just because you have the patience span of a raging bull glaring down a red flag," Artemis said smugly to her twin, "doesn't mean that we all have."

"You know, she really does have a point," Athena smirked, "you really need to think more before you react to something."

"How dare you say that to me?" he raged. "Name me one example – just one! – where I've acted to something before thinking first."

"Well," Poseidon answered with a wink, "to be honest I can't remember a single situation where you_ have_ thought before reacting to something."

Apollo just glared in outrage at him, at a compete loss of what to say.

"Wow," Artemis said, amazed after a minute, "this is the quietest I've ever heard him. Thanks Uncle!" She hastily continued to read, as Apollo was once again about to respond angrily.

"Hurmph!"

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, liquorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"Mmm," moaned Demeter, "I can almost taste them in my mouth."

Ares agreed glumly. "I'm so jealous of him," he sighed, "why can't our mother be that cool?"

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Aw," the other's sighed happily at him.

"He really needed that," Persephone smiled, "especially after those awful experiences he had."

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"**

**I gritted my teeth.**

"Way to spoil the moment," Zeus glared, itching to for the opportunity to strike him down with his lightning.

"Boy," Ares smiled, "I'd love the opportunity to show him what he can do with his been dip!"

"We all would," Dionysus muttered, "so I suggest we form a neat queue, staring behind Poseidon for the opportunity."

"Sorry," Poseidon apologised to them, "but he's all mine!"

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"I'm not sure about a millionaire," Chiron joked, "but a god sure does sound much better."

"Here, here," they agreed, smiling.

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself.**

"It's sweet the way he's trying to look after her," Hestia smiled. "Just like the way she's trying to look after him."

"He's awesome," Apollo agreed, "you're very lucky to have him, Poseidon."

Poseidon continued to smile proudly.

**I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

"Oh, please," Hermes interrupted. "She was a hag from hell and you full well now it."

**Until that trip to the museum ...**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"You really shouldn't lie to your mother," Hera chastised him, "especially when they know best about what's going on around you."

"Plus, because the things you'd have said would have made sense to her, she'd have actually explained to you what was going on," Chiron groaned.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

Poseidon grinned widely at the simple mention of the beach: the place where they had first met.

**"Three nights—same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

Poseidon frowned slightly. _How dare he ban them from going there?_!

Sensing a change in his mood, Athena wisely asked, "Was this place special for the two of you?"

"It was where we first met," he answered truthfully, as the other's smiled –then frowned – in understanding.

"Just ignore him," Apollo advised his uncle, "he's just a douche bag."

"Do you even know what that means?" Artemis asked him, raising her eyebrows in question.

"Pfft, of course!" he scoffed at her, "now please continue: I want to know what happens next," he added quickly.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

**I wanted to punch him, **

"Do it!" Ares yelled, as the others glared at him. "What?"

"If he punches him," Athena stated slowly, "then they probably won't be able to go to Montauk."

"Aw," Ares sulked, "well that sucks."

"So," Dionysus wondered, "if he can be bothered to get up to yell at her to get the dip, why can't he just do it himself now he's up?"

"Search me," Hermes said, "the dude's psycho. A lazy one, I might add, but still a psycho nonetheless."

**but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"See?" Athena smiled at Ares in triumph, as he childishly stuck his tongue out at her in response.

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He _will_ let you go." Poseidon growled.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"That is insane!" Aphrodite seemed appalled. "It's one thing to take money from a helpless child, but it's another to rob a woman of her shopping opportunities! How dare he: he has no right!"

"It really _is_ insane." Persephone huffed darkly. "Even Hades treated me better than that in the beginning of our relationship and he kidnapped me!" Hades was about to object, but she stopped him by leaning in to kiss you. "Yes, darling, I know I've completely forgiven you of that: I was just stating a point."

"Darling, I love your lies." Hades smirking fondly at his wife.

"I never lie," she kissed him happily once again, this time in earnest.

"Not lies, dear Uncle," Apollo stated happily, "but mere exaggerations of the truth."

Before anyone else had a chance to speak, Artemis swiftly read on.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

"Well," Hermes said sarcastically, "seeing as you constantly make a mess of _my _home, we'll just make a pit stop near Miami first: you know, to show our _deep _consideration and admiration to you and all."

"Hermes?" Zeus asked.

"Yes father?"

"Be quiet."

"Yes father," he answered glumly.

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"_Interrupting_?" Artemis voiced outraged. "He just gave you even more money to continue playing, you selfish ape!"

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

Everyone laughed at that.

"You go, Percy," cheered Ares, "don't allow him to intimidate you!"

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

"Because she loves you," Chiron said softly, "where she doesn't want to see you hurt."

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

Everyone snickered at that.

"Hey, Apollo," Artemis grinned meanly at him.

"What?" he asked, instantly suspicious.

"Congratulations! It might have taken us a couple thousand years of searching, but it looks like we've finally found someone even dumber than you!"

"I hate you!" he glowered at her, as everyone around him doubled over in laughter.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

"Very intelligent," Athena approved, "I love her already."

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

Her smiles wavered slightly, "Though," she said, "I have to admit the boy is more than a little dim."

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.**

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Now just because he had the nerve to say that," Hephaestus muttered, "I'd scratch it up so badly he'd have thought Percy'd painted it grey."

"Here here," the other's agreed unanimously.

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. **

The entire council began to laugh at the man's misfortunes.

"Now that," Ares exclaimed, "has really made my day!"

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

"Don't worry, Perry," Dionysus chuckled, "you'll know now soon enough."

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders **

Athena shuddered violently, as Poseidon chuckled happily at the scene before him.

**in the cabinets,** **and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

**I loved the place.**

"How?" Aphrodite had to ask. "It sounds perfectly horrid!"

"You wouldn't understand," Poseidon told her simply, absorbing Artemis' words like a sponge.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the colour of the sea.**

"That's odd," Athena murmured strangely, "for a mortal. It seems her life force is strongly connected to the sea."

Aphrodite's heart beat accelerated rapidly. _This_, she thought confidently_, was yet more evidence that the two were soul mates, and meant to be together as a couple. Though_, she sighed miserably, _I don't have the slightest clue what to do about it._

"Has it always been like this for her, Poseidon?" Athena asked him, suspiciously, interrupting the love goddesses' train of thought.

"Ever since I've known her," he answered truthfully, "though I am not sure what it means."

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What's with all the blue food?" Apollo asked suddenly.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks," he said relieved.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"Haha," Demeter chuckled, "she's fabulous, brother. She seems absolutely perfect, as it she was made for you."

He smiled at his sister, not sure what to make of her words. In the end he just went with a quick thank you, before signalling Artemis to read on.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

"Mmm," Hades thought about what Artemis just read. "Well," he said rationally, "if a group of young demigods can write these books in a short period of time, I have no worries that this woman should be able to too."

Poseidon grinned warmly at his brother in thanks of his kind words.

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

"That's so sweet." The female's gushed happily, as Poseidon blushed suddenly.

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"She's still totally in love with you, Uncle," Apollo grinned at him. "Even after all this time and after you told her the truth. Most women come to either resent or hate us. Please tell me your secret?"

"There's no secret," he frowned at his nephew, "I simply just loved her too." _And I still do…_

"_Boring," _Apollo yawned, only to get wacked across the head by Zeus and Hades.

"Behave," they warned him. "Or we'll send you out and you won't hear the ending."

"Sorry," he sighed sulkily, as his twin continued reading, all the while laughing silently at him.

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"I _do_ see you Percy, I _am_ proud." Poseidon answered smiling.

"So am I," Hestia added shyly.

"And me," a few others chorused.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"Those things don't bother me in the slightest," he spoke firmly. "Nor should they bother you."

"Still," Athena added, "six times in six years _is_ a little much…"

"Doesn't bother me in the slightest," he repeated in a this-subject's-not-open-for-further-discussion kind of way.

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

Poseidon turned to Zeus, with a look of pain in his eyes.

"The rule hurts me too, brother," he sighed, "it hurts us all. But it's there for a reason."

"Maybe it's time for us to make up new ones," Hades grumbled, "seeing as we're in the mood for change."

"We just can't change the rules to spoil our favourite children," he argued stubbornly. "It's wrong and unjust."

"But what if we were allowed to spend time with all our children," Hermes argued, suddenly pleading in earnest, "we would not have favourites. Just think about it, please?"

"Very well," Zeus grumbled, after a while, "I'll think about it. And who knows? The book may very well provide us with the right decision we should make."

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

**I felt angry at my father. **

All the gods and goddesses flinched at the sudden turn of things, as one by one they glared at Zeus, as they knew that this was the way most of their children felt towards them, for this same reason.

"I said I'll think about it!" he sighed once, before commanding Artemis to read on.

**Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"Well," Apollo said jokingly, "that last reason is enough to make anyone angry!" but it sounded flat, even to him.

"You really can't blame them," Athena sniffed, "for being angry with us, especially after all they have to sacrifice in their lives."

"I'd be angry with me too," Hermes agreed, "if I was a demigod. I know we're busy looking after the world and all, but I really don't see the harm a visit or two a month will bring."

The other gods agreed with him unanimously, as Zeus wisely kept his mouth shut.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

"She's not doing it to be mean," Hestia tried to reassure him.

"It's for your own safety," added Poseidon glumly.

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"_Percy_!" Poseidon looked aghast at the book. "Don't use that tone of voice at your mother! She's only doing her very best to look after you in the safest way possible!"

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Well," Poseidon, "that's all very well then."

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I **_**have **_**to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

"Tell him," Demeter urged her suddenly. "What are you waiting for? The boy deserves to know the truth."

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"But," Athena looked confused, "Poseidon, why would a child of yours be so interested in the boy?"

Poseidon just shook his head in bewilderment. _What exactly is going on?_ He vented in frustration. It just seemed that everything was piling on top of another, where they just kept getting more questions to try and solve rather than actual answers.

**Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

A shocked silence filled the room.

"That was a close one," Ares chuckled nervously as Poseidon simply stared in horror at the constant danger the boy seemed to be in.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"Foolish, foolish boy," Dionysus glowered, as he and Hephaestus shook their head at the boy's selfishness and his lack of thought towards their safety.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

"And therefore," Dionysus continued moodily, "that's sadly how most of the brats are killed: by selfish mothers wishing to hold onto their darling children for as long as possible."

"That isn't selfishness," argued Artemis, unexpectedly, "it's love. And you can clearly see that this is almost breaking the poor woman's heart so I'd suggest that you either say something positive and/or helpful or shut up and be quiet."

Chiron smiled happily at Artemis, pleased to see him being put down a beg or two.

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

"The poor woman," Persephone agreed softly, "she's so brave: _I_ could _never_ make this decision."

Hades hugged her in comfort. "You're so lucky, my love," he whispered to her, "that you do not need to make this decision. Ever."

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

Poseidon felt so much empathy for her then, that two huge tears fell unchecked down his face, where he hastily reached up to wipe them dry.

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

"Well _that' sounds ominous," A_pollo gulped, recognising the darkened tone and the tendency demigods had to dream about things that were more than just dreams: but an actual part of reality.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"Great," Athena groaned at the two of them, who were whistling innocently and kept their eyes roaming everywhere but at the gods present. "Now you're actually fighting physically!"

"Not my fault!" they both said simultaneously, causing the both of them to glare at each other, as the other's around them began snickering quietly.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. **

"Ha!" Zeus gloated, smirking happily at his brother.

**The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings.**

"Ha!" Poseidon retaliated swiftly, as the other's present rolled their eyes at the brother's childishness.

Hades meanwhile, looked relieved for once, as the argument didn't seem to include him at all, whereupon he and Persephone started making out sweetly to pass the time away.

"Now," Chiron ventured at the pair of them, "don't you think you're getting a little carried away?"

**As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

As the council's gaze was suddenly fixed on him, Hades lifted his mouth from his wife's, brushed off the purple lipstick from his face, and protested, "What?"

"Did you steal my lightning bolt?" Zeus thundered.

"And set things up to look like I did it?" Poseidon growled.

"Oh, come on guys," Persephone tried to sound reasonable. " You know he didn't – or wouldn't. For one, he doesn't need any more trouble or power than he already has, as ruling the underworld can be more than a little draining. Secondly, you heard the description that was mentioned!"

"What about it?" Poseidon asked puzzled.

"Have you ever known Hades to chuckle?" she asked them sceptically, as Hades put his best 'Utter Misery and Boredom' face on.

"Good point," they both said and sat back down.

"At least we've got a clue now about who did it," Hermes said, smilingly.

"Yes," Athena smiled, "And upon further reading we will discover more."

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. **

Athena's eyes widened slightly, as if in recognition.

"Was is it, daughter?" Zeus asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "We need more proof for me to know for definite."

**I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, **

"HA! I beat you!" Zeus triumphantly yelled.

"Brother," Poseidon glared at him, "that is sooo not the point right now…"

**and I screamed, **_**No!**_

**I woke with a start.**

"Aw," they all wined, as they all wanted to learn more.

"Ah well," Ares said with a smile on his face, "interesting fighting scene though!"

"Seriously, Ares," Artemis said in frustration, "is that all you ever think about?"

"Dude," he said slowly, as if she were mentally disabled, "I'm the god of war. What do you want me to think about? Chocolate bunnies?"

"Happy Eater everyone!" Apollo grinned, causing everyone to stare oddly at him.

"What?" he said, slightly hurt by their piercing gazes.

"Grow up," Artemis muttered darkly.

"Make me!"

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

"So, you both are seriously fighting against each other," Hestia said, sounding concerned.

"Cool," Ares cooled.

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

The brothers gulped guiltily, seeing the extent of the commotion and damage that they were creating on earth.

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

"I wonder who that could be," Apollo wondered as Hephaestus shook his head in exasperation.

"Who do you think?" he hissed moodily.

"I obviously don't know," he replied smartly, "or I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"What does he mean, he's not exactly Grover?" Aphrodite asked Athena in puzzlement.

"Well," she answered superiorly, "if you take the title into consideration, I believe Grover has appeared to the Jacksons in his natural Satyr form."

"He really must be tired then," Hermes said sympathetically, "from travelling all that way here to just to find him." The other's nodded their heads in agreement.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

"He was thinking," Dionysus answered sarcastically, "that he wanted to spend some quality time with_ mommy_ after being away from her for so long."

"That's not a crime," Poseidon defended his son, "it had been six months since he last saw her, after all."

**My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

_**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" **_**he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you **_**tell **_**her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—**

"Well," Hermes said, as he acted scandalised, "I don't care what his reasons are for not wearing pants: only _that it's_ not appropriate to be done when young women and children are present!" Apollo chuckled loudly beside him.

Artemis stopped reading long enough to knock an arrow toward the messenger god. "Grow up," she said in disgust, "and let me please finish the chapter!"

"Okay," they said glumly, crossing their fingers.

**and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be...**

"There were tentacles?"

"SHUT UP!" she hollered as another arrow was sent flying, this time, not missing it's mark.

"Ow!" Apollo howled, outraged. "That hurt!"

"Good," she picked up the book in satisfaction, "it was meant to!"

As Apollo was about to send a returning arrow, Hera stopped him, with a stern, 'just stop acting like children and read the book' lecture.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: **_**"Percy. **_**Tell me **_**now**_**!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

"If one bolt of lightning lands anywhere near them…" Poseidon warned him darkly, his expression was absolutely serious, "…I'll make you suffer tenfold for it."

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. **_**Go**_**!"**

"Finally! _Something_ interesting is about to happen!" Ares cheered as he pumped his fists in the air, ignoring the numerous glares he was receiving.

**Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"Yes," Dionysus yawned, "he's a Satyr! Get over it already!"

"That's the end of the third chapter," Artemis announced. "Can we have a break now, father? My nerves are feeling a little tired after reading for so long."

"We may," Zeus said smilingly, "for one hour as before. But," he continued, glaring at Poseidon, "this time an hour really means an hour: where, anyone late will be severely punished."

"One hour," Hera repeated, smiling gently at them, as the couple, once again, disappeared instantly in a flash of light.

"Now," Apollo smirked at the group, "where do you think they were going in such a hurry?"

_**(A.N. And that's the end of chapter 6. What do you reckon so far: any good? I'm wandering what Minnie story I'll write at the start of the next chapter this time: to keep the fanfic interesting and to give it a twist to the others of its kind. If you've got any comments, c.c., suggestions or ideas to share with me, please review and I'll be happy to read them.**_

_**Thanks again to the ones that have followed the story this far: it means a lot to me.**_

_**P.S. Apollo and I are wishing you guys a very Happy Easter!**_

_**T.T.F.N.)**_


	7. Bulls, Satyrs and Naked Men

_**(A.N. Thanks again for the reviews guys: much appreciated once again. Hope you enjoyed the Easter weekend! **_

_**So, today's Minnie story is the trio's adventure on earth, where they've come back after Zeus sent them to steal Grover's clothing. (Btw, the reason I call them Minnie stories instead of mini stories is just my way - a cute way at the same time – of giving the stories more originality and a sense of fun while you read them.) **_

_**So, without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy)**_

**Chapter 7 = Bulls, Satyrs and Naked Men**

_(The scene takes place in the throne room. It's seven minutes until the end of the hour break, where only the trio are absent.)_

"So," Persephone grinned at her husband in eagerness. "When shall we start discussing how we'll remodel the underworld?"

"I thought," Hades replied, frowning slightly, "that we were only going to discuss remodelling the palace and its grounds?"

"We agreed that we'd remodel our home," she stressed, "and the Underworld in general is our home."

"But…"

"The reason we're re-decorating the palace and its gardens," she explained patiently, "is to mark our fresh start as a couple, where we can both add splashes of our personalities to share with each other and experience new things. The reason for decorating the Underworld, however, is completely different."

"And that reason is…"

She sighed playfully. "I know that work is stressing you out and wearing you down: especially because you now have more inhabitants down there than ever before, with a hell of a lot more queues blocking our way to places. And it doesn't help that everywhere you turn you always see black and grey: the colours of doom and gloom. Now," she continued, "I'm not saying we should go overboard and decorate the walls in luminous pink and green, but it really does need livening up a bit."

Hades thought silently for a bit, before asking quietly. "Do you really believe that a change of scenery will help things?"

"I honestly think it will," she smiled gently at him. "For one, you'll have less people making complaints about the miserable atmosphere, and more people willing to wait patiently in line because they won't be so scared. Who knows, you might even get a few grateful volunteers to help start, make, and move the queues along: as happy people equals happy workers!"

"You might be on to something…" he smiled at the thought of less complaints and more help: _almost heaven_.

"And," she added hesitantly, "we could also spice up the Field of Asphodel to make it appear more attractive…" she hastily continued, sensing an argument coming from Hades, "so there'd be even less complaints. That way, seeing that you've made the waiting rooms and the actual field that the majority go to appear more positive, you should make the Fields of Punishment even more negative, so everyone will know that that's the place to be feared and will be on their best behaviour."

His mouth suddenly turned upwards into a wicked grin. He grabbed her by the waist and hugged her fiercely. "Darling," he smiled, "has anyone ever told you that you're smarter than a fox, and even more cunning than a snake could ever be? It is no wonder why I love you so!"

She blushed heatedly, before planting a firm kiss on her husband's cheek. Turning around suddenly to view the others, she declared, "We're beginning construction soon-"

"But," Athena interrupted, "you haven't decided what designs, layout or structure you want yet, let alone colour and decorations, so how could you possibly be ready to begin constuc…"

"Give it a rest, sis," Artemis grinned. "It may surprise you that most people don't spend months organising everything down to the last possible detail."

"Heavens no," Hades agreed. "I expect it to be completed within a couple of months: seven at most."

"Yep," Persephone nodded in approval. "We'll mostly go by trial and error, to see what works and what doesn't."

"And how do you expect to finish construction in that amount of time?" Athena asked sceptically.

"A number of ways," Persephone smiled sweetly at the goddess. "Through Hades' servants-"

"My money…" Hades added, as the room gasped suddenly, not used to seeing Hades spend a dime for anything.

"And of course," Persephone finished deviously, "if we need even more helpers, we might be willing to cut a deal with some queuing people: as I hear from my husband that people would do anything to move to the front of the line."

"Daughter," Demeter started, putting on her nicest smile, "and _you_, Hades," her face dimmed slightly, "whilst construction is occurring, would you _b-both_ like to spend the time in my palace?"

"Thank you, Demeter," Hades replied politely, slightly confused at her sudden kind behaviour towards him, "but we'll be perfectly fine down in the Underworld: as we're looking forward to be there and undersea all of the changes every step of the way."

"I do hope," Demeter said, glaring at Hades while managing at the same time to smile lovingly upon her daughter, "that you'll invite me once construction is complete?"

"Of course we would, mother!" Persephone replied, putting on her brightest smile. "We'll even design a special wing for you to stay in whenever you wish to!"

"That's very kind of you," she thanked them quietly, willing suddenly for a change of subject.

She was in luck, as Zeus suddenly spoke up.

"It is now a couple of seconds until we should all be back here," he declared moodily, "and after my last warning people _still_ attempt to defy me!"

"Brother," Poseidon reasoned. "Although it is not quite time yet, you could just zap them back to the throne room: whether they've managed to complete the task or not."

"Then that is what I'll do," he declared, waving his hands powerfully through the air. Suddenly the trio appeared in a flash of light, appearing almost completely naked except for their underwear.

Laughter immediately erupted around the room, which worsened further when the trio realised where they were and attempted to cover themselves with their hands and blushed in embarrassment.

After a few more minutes of just standing there, Zeus thought enough was enough.

"Sit down on your thrones this instant," he ordered them.

"And put some clothes on too!" Artemis added, still smiling.

Apollo turned to glare at her. "We can't," he mumbled softly, "We haven't got any."

"So?" Aphrodite raised one perfectly trimmed eyebrow, "just conjure some, silly!"

"We can't," Ares growled at his girlfriend.

"And why not?" she asked, appearing hurt by his comment.

"Because," Zeus gloated suddenly. "I wanted to be entertained. And what's entertaining about three gods appearing to a group of young Satyrs and simply snapping their fingers to take their clothing away from them? Nothing: it's dull. So I decided to take away their powers, and even a portion of their strength, in order to even the playing field."

"That was you!" Ares bellowed, shaking in rage, face turning a red so deep steam was radiating off him in waves.

As Hermes attempted to calm him down, Apollo just glared in distain, and pleaded, "Can we have them back now, please?"

"You may," Zeus declared, as the trio swiftly felt a lot stronger, and quickly conjured something decent to clothe themselves with.

"So," Dionysus started, as he leaned back against his throne, with his long legs dangling over the right arm, "do you dare tell us what happened, as I'm sure that we'd all love to hear the tale?"

"Oh, they will," Zeus grinned. "Hermes, tell us what happened."

Hermes sighed in defeat, as Ares and Apollo slumped their heads into their hands in embarrassment. "First, I'd like to state that we knew nothing about you taking our powers away until we actually wanted to use them." Snickers interrupted him, where he turned to glare at the ladies.

"We found Grover in the company of a few wood nymphs a mile or two from camp," he went on. "We had it all planned, or as planned as the three of us were ever going to get! We were all dressed in black – with the masks and all, just like we discussed. We used the masks because we didn't want the Satyr to recognise us, to make it that much funnier when he'd try to fight back."

"But," Athena interrupted, "didn't you think that the Satyr would sniff you out as gods?"

"Well, no," Apollo frowned, "why, would he?"

"He'd have sensed you definitely weren't human," Athena rolled her eyes, "so luckily father made it so that you did."

"But he could have warned us!" Ares ranted.

"Anyway," Hermes continued, in a foul mood. "Ares was going to be the one in the middle, with the toy gun-"

"Toy gun?" Hephaestus asked in confusion.

"Please," Hermes scoffed. "You really think I'd trust Ares not to shoot them for real? It was dark enough outside, where they'd only notice the 'made in China' logo if they really squinted. Ares held the gun, Apollo held the flashlight and shovel and I held the rope."

He carried on, "We wanted it to look like a real mugging, so we hid behind some bushes and waited for them to come. When they came, we frightened them so much they nearly jumped out of their clothes- no one laugh!"

"The nymphs were more confused than scared though," Apollo continued, "as they've probably never witnessed this sort of thing before, but Grover was almost shaking: he kept trying to do these peace talks and weird dances, but we just kinda ignored him."

"So there I am," Ares grumbled, "gun in my hands, demanding their clothing, and the Satyr's so bewildered and lost he's stammering so much he looks like he's going to faint any second. I tell him calmly that all they have to do is give me their clothes and we'll happily go, where, if they refused I'd shoot him and get my henchmen to tie him up and bury him in the woods."

"So they just gave you their clothes?" Hestia frowned.

"Well," Hermes smirked, "the nymphs stripped down in about, two seconds flat, -where it was quite a beautiful sight indeed. Grover though just kept staring at us in confusion and kept trying to give us money."

"Yeah," Apollo rolled his eyes, "whatever we threatened him with, he just wouldn't give us his clothes."

"I just don't buy that," Aphrodite muttered, "I mean, if I were him, I'd be practically begging you guys to take my clothes away, as they're perfectly horrid and _very_ out of style."

"So," Hermes sighed, "we moved onto violence: and things took a quick nose dive from then on. Ares had forgotten by then that the gun was a fake and he just started shooting at them, laughing like crazy;…"

"Stupid gun," Ares sulked glumly. "Though, it was funny the way they were screaming hysterically and jumping to the ground."

"After a while," Hermes continued, "they realised the gun was a fake, and decided –surprisingly I might add- to charge us!"

"Which would have been laughable," Apollo agreed, "if we had our powers, where we could just make them bounce backwards like they'd just hit a wall of jelly-mmmmm, …jelly…"

"Grow up," Athena muttered.

"Anyway," Hermes frowned at him, "we realised pretty quickly that our powers didn't work where Grover used his music and helped the nymphs to knock us to the ground!"

"Even Ares was too stunned to fight back," Apollo shook his head at the vivid memory.

"Hey!" Ares barked sourly at him, "you didn't help matters by dropping your shovel and allowing them to hit us all unconscious!"

Howling laughter echoed around the room, where the trio just looked even more embarrassed.

"We woke up," finished Hermes miserably, "with nothing but our pants on: the Satyr and the nymphs were long gone."

"Why didn't they tie you up?" Artemis snickered, "that's what I would have done at the very least if you had the nerve to try to do that to me!"

"When they removed the masks they must have recognised," Demeter answered rationally, "who they were at once, where they were probably so scared that they ran away without thinking about anything else."

"Whatever," Hermes grumbled. "Look, we woke up and a few minutes later you summoned us back here, so can we please forget this incident as soon as possible and carry on with the next chapter?"

"Fine, fine, fine," Zeus chuckled happily, "but since you're so eager to get to the book, you, my son, have the honours of reading the next chapter."

"Anything at all," Hermes muttered, grabbing for the book, "has got to be better than this humiliation."

"I'd say," Poseidon cheered, as Aphrodite gave a sudden wink at him, propelling him into immediate action.

"Okay," he grumbled. "The Fourth Chapter is called, **'My Mother Teaches Me **

**Bullfighting."**

"Well," Artemis started, "what do you suppose that means?"

"And just don't say," Athena started, glaring at Apollo, "that she's taking Percy to Spain to learn bullfighting."

"I wasn't going to!" Apollo said, more than a little hurt.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.

"Why are you always so mean to me?" he asked suddenly.

"Because," she frowned at him, "you are so immature and selfish, where you never think – not even a little bit- before you react to something!"

"So you think I'm idiotic?" he started to get angry at her.

"In one word: yes!"

"Can you just stop insulting me, please?"

"I will once you finally grow up a bit and become more responsible."

He glared at her, "If you insult me one more time – just one! – I'm going to make you regret it very much!"

Before the argument could escalate any further, Zeus interrupted, ordering for silence and for Hermes to start reading.

**We tore through the night along the dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

**Every time there was a flash of lightning,**

"You hit them," Poseidon hissed at his brother, "and your life won't be worth living!"

Zeus began to sweat nervously. "It's really getting hot in here, isn't it?"

"Oh," Apollo said, calming himself down, "that's probably my fault. Sorry dad!"

_I really do hope_, Zeus thought, _that I don't hit them…_

**I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"That would definitely make the top of my list for fashion nightmare disasters," Aphrodite commented, as Hephaestus smiled tiredly at his wife in earnest.

_Some day, the only person she'll hold in her heart would be me…_

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

Dionysus rolled his eyes at the image in silent agreement, as Chiron simply frowned at the boy's imaginative descriptions.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom… know each other?"**

"Obviously," Dionysus sighed at the boy's frustrating slowness at adapting to their world.

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rear-view mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"That sounds kind of creepy when you think about it," Demeter commented.

"**Watching me?"**

"See?" she said smiling, "even the boy agrees with me."

"**Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I **_**am**_** your friend."**

"**Urm … what **_**are**_** you, exactly?" **

"**That doesn't matter right now."**

The gods just shook their head at the Satyrs lack of thought, as the trio continued to glare hatefully in thought of him, as they each silently planed their ultimate revenge against him.

"**It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "**_**Blaa-ha-ha**_**!" **

"Oh, he's mad now." Hades stated, as the trio smiled hatefully at him.

"**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

"**Goat!" he cried.**

"**What?"**

"**I'm a goat from the waist down!"**

"**You just said it didn't matter."**

"Lack. Of. Social. Skills," Aphrodite smiled simply, as Hephaestus laughed in agreement with her.

"When this is over," he suggested, attempting to sound as confident and strong as the god of war sitting close to him, "you should make it your mission to help him and Chiron learn these skills: seeing as you're so highly adept and that they're in desperate need of them."

"I'll do just that," she smiled genuinely at her husband, pleasantly surprised that he was being so supportive towards her. "Thank you, darling."_ Now, _she wondered wishfully_, why can't Ares be like that?_

"_**Blaa-ha-ha**_**! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"**

"They'd have me to answer to," Poseidon said, smiling thinly, "if they ever dared attempt such a thing."

_Mmm, trample them to death_, Ares mused at the thought. _Nah, too messy and final, -and not vengeful enough._ _I want to hurt him, after all, not kill him…_

"**Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like … Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

"And we finally get to the explaining part," Dionysus sighed in relief, "it took you long enough!"

"**Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a **_**myth**_**, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

"**So you **_**admit**_** there was a Mrs. Dodds!" **

"Geez," Zeus groaned as if in pain, "though I may have taken a liking to your spawn, Poseidon, even you must admit he's incredibly slow at grasping these situations."

"Shut up," Poseidon grumbled sourly.

"At least he's sweet," Hestia added. "And loyal."

"Extremely loyal," Artemis agreed, earning a smile from her uncle.

"Girls," Hermes sighed, as he shook his head in exasperation and continued reading.

"**Of course."**

"**Then why—"**

"**The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"**Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

"Slooow." Athena and Dionysus chorused.

Poseidon frowned hard at them, "Can you just stop insulting my son? It's highly annoying."

"We'll stop insulting him when he stops being slow." Dionysus said. Poseidon glowered at them before motioning to Hermes to continue.

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

"I wonder what it is," Athena stated as the others thought for a moment.

"It's something to do with bulls…" Persephone thought.

"The only monster that comes to mind is the minotaur," Athena said, shaking her head.

"You better have not have sent that foul creature after him," Poseidon warned his brother.

"In my defence," Hades said, "if I have, its future me that's done it, not present me: where I'll assure you that_ I_ would never send on after him: as I know he's innocent."

"The same goes for me," Zeus added, wracked with a dreadful feeling that his future self was going to do something incredibly stupid. "_I _– the present me that is – also wouldn't hurt the boy."

"I'll hold you both to that," Poseidon said, before sitting back to listen to the story once again.

"**Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

"**Safety from what? Who's after me?" **

"Oh, just one or two major gods, and a few thousand or so monsters," Ares said sarcastically, "you know, nothing too bad for you to worry your pretty little socks off."

"**Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"Poor sucker," he chuckled darkly causing the majority of the council to frown or glare at him.

"Ares," Artemis started patiently, "how would you like it if you were in Percy's position, where you were a young child with absolutely no training?"

"I'd love it," he smiled genuinely, "I've been wanting to be in a good fist fight in a while now, and I think the boy's position would be my idea of heaven right now."

"Brother," Athena said snidely, "without your powers you couldn't even beat a Satyr and a few wood nymphs, so how do you hope to win against Percy's odds?"

Everyone laughed hysterically at that comment.

"As I'm sure you'd agree with me," Persephone said sweetly, "in your own words: you are owned!"

"Just carry on reading," Hera commanded, still laughing slightly over her son's misfortune.

"**Grover!"**

"That was a bit mean of him," Demeter agreed, "even though Percy insulted him first."

"Percy didn't mean to insult him," Poseidon protested outraged, "where the Satyr just tried to scare my son even more than he already is."

"I just think," Demeter defended the Satyr, "that you're all being too hard on the Satyr. You've all saw that he's got a kind heart. He's just a little young and inexperienced, but, like Percy he'll improve with time."

The other's silently thought that over for some time, as Hermes continued reading.

"**Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

"You don't think you have an imagination?" Dionysus scoffed at the outrageous lie. "Have you ever heard some of the thoughts that come from your head?"

"They are certainly different to the majority of others," Athena agreed.

"That's the thing that makes them interesting," Aphrodite smiled.

"And the thing that keeps me wanting to hear more," Apollo grinned.

"You're all missing the point," Hades pointed out, "Shouldn't we be discouraging his imagination for him to realise that the things happening around him are real?"

A chorus of "whatevers" floated around the room, as Hermes rolled his eyes before continuing.

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

"They're almost to camp." Poseidon said relieved.

"Woop woop!" Apollo cheered. "I actually fancy some strawberries right now…mmmm, I wish I had my vehicle now though, so I can get some."

"Apollo," Athena chided him. "You're a god! You can – at any time- conjure your own strawberries, you imbecile!"

"That's it!" Apollo stood up suddenly from his throne, and pointed a hand towards Athena. "I've had it with you insulting me! Maybe this will teach you to show some proper respect towards me!"

A dark light shone from his palm, as hundreds of spiders shot from his hand and tangled into the wise woman's hair and clothes, making her scream loudly in horror. However, no matter how much she danced and batted them aside, more hastily came to take their place.

"Get them off me!" she screeched hatefully at him, slamming her fists into his hard chest.

"Apologise to me," he said simply, "and agree to show me a little more respect in future and I will."

As she was struggling to swallow her pride, spiders even bigger shot from his palm and started to crawl towards her in earnest, their fangs opening hungrily.

"Okay, okay, okay!" she shouted. "I'm sorry for insulting you so much – it was a bit harsh…"

"A bit…"

"A lot!" she amended hastily. "And though I can't promise I'll never insult you again I promise to give you a little easier time from now on! Now please," he begged, "get them off me!"

"Okay," he smiled simply. Waving his hand once the spiders disappeared as quickly as they came, as they crawled back up into his waiting palm. As she attempted to calm herself down, she noticed that all eyes were upon the two of them.

Zeus, smiling in deep amusement, after a while muttered, "you two may sit back down now, so that we can continue reading this chapter."

As Athena sat down, cheeks flushed a deep red, she was surrounded by murmurs of concern from the girls, mostly from Apollo's twin herself.

"Don't worry," she whispered, "we'll get him back for this. We'll take our time and launch our attack when he least suspects it."

As Apollo sat down on his throne however, he was greeted with congratulations and high-fives from the males.

"That was awesome," Ares said joyfully, clapping the man on the back. "I honestly didn't think you had it in you!"

"She'd definitely think twice before insulting you again!" Poseidon agreed, savouring his nemesis takedown.

"Now," Hera interrupted both groups sternly, "if we could all put our pitchforks away and put our concentration back – once again- towards the book…"

"Yes, mam," Hermes said, quickly reading on.

"Good boy."

"**Where are we going?" I asked.**

"**To the summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

"Because, my dear," Chiron said gently, "this is now the only safe place for him."

"And I don't _want_ to send you there," Poseidon replied glumly, "but that's where you have to go for now."

"**The place you didn't want me to go."**

"Oh, please don't make it any harder!" begged Persephone, forgetting Athena's funny takedown and being saddened almost to tears.

"Just go along with it," Poseidon whispered encouragingly, feeling sorry for the pair of them.

"**Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

"**Because some old ladies cut yarn." **

"Not exactly, sport," Dionysus shook his head.

"**Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to … when someone's about to die."**

"Once again," Hephaestus rolled his eyes, speaking to his wife, "that Satyr has found it possible to make the situation seem even worse than it needs to be."

Aphrodite said nothing, but bobbed her stylish head in silent agreement.

"**Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

"**No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

"**You meant 'you.' As in **_**me**_**."**

"**I meant **_**you**_**, like 'someone.' Not you, **_**you**_**." **

"Why are they arguing about who the satyr said is going to die, and at least try to come out alive?" Hades wondered.

"They're male," Artemis replied, shrugging her shoulder as if that explained it all. "Males are idiots."

"**Boys!" my mom said.**

"You see?"

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

"**What was that?" I asked.**

"We're about to find out," Zeus whispered tensely.

"**We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question.**

"**Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

_Yes._ Poseidon pleaded. _Please let them both reach the safety of the camp._

**I didn't know where **_**there**_** was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with the pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really **_**hadn't**_** been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

The others in the room turned to simply stare at Poseidon, their eyebrows raised high.

"Not one word," he growled, moving onwards.

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner … and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling **_**boom!**_** and our car exploded.**

"Oh no," Persephone whispered, clutching her husband close beside her.

_Please be alright,_ Poseidon pleaded, _please…._

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

"Ouch," Ares winced harshly, almost feeling the injuries he boy must have received.

"You're telling me," Apollo agreed sombrely, in no mood currently, to joke.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

"**Percy!" my mom shouted.**

"**I'm okay…" **

_Good_, Poseidon thought, _that's good_….

"But," Chiron wondered, "what-"

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and the rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

"WHAT!" Poseidon yelled in extreme anger. As he got up to throttle Zeus, his brother raised his arms up high in surrender.

"It hasn't happened yet- and it wasn't me that did it: but my future self! Now that I know the boy is innocent I'd never hurt him unjustly like this!"

Poseidon calmed down after a moment or two, "then you are incredibly lucky neither of them were injured."

With that he sat back down silently and motioned for Hermes to continue.

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

_Well at least one good thing came from that._ Zeus thought, his mood lighting already.

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of this mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

"That's kind of adorable," Aphrodite mentioned, "if you ignore the barnyard insult, of course."

"A very sweet boy," Demeter and Hera agreed, relieved no harm had yet been inflicted upon he boy.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

_Ah, well_, Zeus grumbled moodily. _I guess I could bring myself to like him, someday…_

"**Percy," my mother said, "we have to …" Her voice faltered.**

"Oh, what else could go wrong?" Hades moaned.

"Uncle!" Hermes and Apollo looked at him in horror. "How could you say that?"

"Say what?" Hades asked, confused.

"That's a common jinks!" Hermes exclaimed.

"Meaning?" he sighed tiredly.

"By saying that what else could go wrong you've cast so much bad luck upon Percy that something _will_ actually go wrong!"

"Nice going, Uncle," Apollo shook his head in disappointment.

"Never mind them," Hestia whispered to his brother kindly. "It's only a mortal superstition."

Hades nervously asked Hermes to continue, eyeing the two men in suspicion.

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was dark silhouette of a huge, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

"A minotaur," Dionysus shook his head sympathetically, where everyone turned to glare at Hades.

"Once again," Hades defended himself, "I haven't done it yet, so can everyone please stop blaming me for the things that my future self chooses to do? It's getting highly annoying!"

**I swallowed hard. "Who is—"**

"**Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

Apollo started humming the Jaws music quietly to himself, earning a slap around the ear from Hermes.

"Stop it," he warned, "you're making us even more nervous than we already are!"

"Sorry," Apollo apologised sheepishly. "Nervous habit."

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking. **

"Damn," Hephaestus cursed, his voice shaky and full of tension.

"It's not over yet," Poseidon said firmly, his voice full of confidence. "If he could survive the fury he will survive this!"

"**Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

"Almost there," Hestia whispered happily, as Zeus began to frown, in remembrance of his daughter.

"_**What?**_**" **

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

_Thalia_, he whispered sadly, _one day I will find a way to set you free…_

"**That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

"**Mom, you're coming too."**

Demeter sighed sympathetically, "She won't be able to get passed the property line, honey."

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. **

Aphrodite sighed inwardly_, thinking about the couple's future. I really must try harder, _she stressed_, to get these two closer together…_

"**No!" I shouted. "You **_**are**_** coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

"How will his mom be safe," Persephone wondered, "if she can't get passed the barrier?"

"Well," Chiron answered, "the minotaur will be attracted to the boys sent. Therefore it's highly possible that once the boy's out of reach the creature will simply ignore her."

"Hopefully," Poseidon smiled thinly.

"**Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

"You know," Hermes interrupted with a sly grin, "that Satyr really reminds me of you, Apollo."

Apollo smiled widely, taking no offence at the god's statement. "He does seem to have his priorities in the right order," he agreed, causing everyone to roll their eyes.

"What?"

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he **_**couldn't **_**be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head … was his head. And the points that looked like horns…**

"Good grief," Athena murmured, putting her head in her hands in exasperation.

"Slooooow," Artemis playfully taunted her Uncle, earning a small smile from him.

"Don't listen to those monsters," Hestia said, referring to the girls beside her, "Once he knows exactly what's going on he'll improve quickly."

"Let us all hope so," Athena pleaded, or else she would have to educate him herself.

_Now there's a thought_, she smiled wickedly. _I wonder how the child would take that news? At least he really would improve and develop at a much faster rate…_

"**He doesn't want **_**us**_**," my mother told me. "He wants **_**you**_**. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

"**But…"**

"Don't waste time, son," Poseidon warned him gravely. "Just listen to your mother."

"**We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then—mad at my mother,**

"Oh, don't get mad at her," Persephone pleaded, glancing at her own mother, "she only wants to protect you the best she can."

"Well said child," Demeter whispered to her, her eyes shining with love.

**At Grover the goat, **

"Well," Hades amended, "I wouldn't blame you for that one. His lack of clear explanations for these types of situations _is _highly irritating indeed!"

**at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"Well, yeah, of course you should be angry at him," Ares grunted, "after all he is trying to kill you."

"So kill him first!" Poseidon yelled at his son I encouragement.

"Hey," Ares said offended, "that's my line!"

"Sorry," Poseidon said sheepishly.

"That's alright," Ares replied. "Now kill him kid!"

Aphrodite just rolled her eyes at them both.

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

"**I told you—"**

"**Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

"They're very loyal and loving towards each other," Hera commented enviously. "Why can't our relationship with one another be more like this?"

"Because we're screw-up's with hot tempers?"

"That's one reason, I suppose," Hera frowned at her son's answer, "but you don't need to be forever: or at all for that matter! After all, it's never too late for change."

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

Poseidon smiled warmly at them both, immensely glad that they had each other during this awful time.

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through the wet waist-high grass.**

"You know," Hermes added, "that must be hard: trying to carry someone up an already tough hill to climb."

Apollo nodded his head in sympathy, "I'd personally rather fight the bull than do harsh physical exercise."

"They're young and strong," Dionysus sighed, ignoring the others sudden sympathy, "they can do it."

"I bet you wouldn't like to do it though," Hermes pointed out to him.

"Pfft," he snorted dismissively, "who would? Anyway," he added, "I'm not a demigod, so I would never have to do it."

"Lucky you," Chiron commented sarcastically as Dionysus glared at him in distaste.

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of **_**Muscle Man**_** magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under the vein-webbed skin. **

"You know," Aphrodite said in bewilderment, "the way he's describing the monster you_ would_ have thought he was the hunk of the year, and not an evil minion!"

"I'm not sure who's freaking me out more," Apollo joked, "Percy or the monster!"

"The boy's head is clearly messed up," Ares agreed, "which is probably the reason that we all like him so much."

"Um, thank you, Ares," Poseidon replied, unsure how to respond to his comment. "Now let's read on. Please."

**He wore no clothes except underwear—**

Snickers erupted around the room, as Poseidon and Hera rolled their eyes at the council's childishness.

**I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—**

Even more sneakers erupted.

"Oh, will you grow up!" Hera muttered darkly at them, glaring at her husband.

"I'm sorry," Zeus chuckled, "but I'm sure the boy's just doing this on purpose now!"

**which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

"Okay," Aphrodite quietened down, "that is definitely a turn off."

"You've got that right," Persephone said in mock horror.

"What a relief," Hermes grinned, then continued to read as he spotted Poseidon's growing glare.

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

"LOL," Apollo commented happily.

"Lol?" Hades asked in confusion.

"Laugh out loud," Dionysus yawned lazily. "You guys really should get more into the swing of things, you know, because earth _has_ changed since the stone age."

"Meow," Aphrodite's eyes widened in surprise, where Hermes quickly moved on, seeing that his Uncles were quickly losing their tempers.

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"He is," Zeus hissed impatiently at the boy.

"At least he's proven," Chiron smiled, "that he does actually listen in class every once in a while."

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"**

"**Pasiphae's son," my mother said.**

"Good, she knows that names have power." Poseidon approved.

"And that she's taken time in her busy schedule to study our world in attempt to better protect her son," Athena smiled. "For that alone we should all praise her."

"**I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

"Well," Demeter said uneasily, "that wasn't the best thing she could have told him…"

"But at least it's the truth," Poseidon said simply. "There will be no more pretending from now on."

"I just want them to fight already!" Ares exclaimed frustratingly, "to have some more entertainment! …and," he added quickly, as everyone turned to glare at him, "to finally see what the boy is made of."

"**But he's the Min—"**

"**Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

_Good_, Poseidon said again, _now just get yourselves to safety…_

**The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.**

"They're not going to make it," Chiron said, "without having to turn to fight."

"And this time," Hermes added uneasily, "he has no weapon and an unconscious Satyr to look after."

"He will be fine," Poseidon said firmly. _He has to survive, he just has to…_

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly.**

"Huh?" they asked in confusion.

"Your son does have an incredible talent with words, brother," Zeus commented to Poseidon dryly, as Poseidon rolled his eyes up at him.

**More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

"**Food?" Grover moaned.**

"SSSSH!" they yelled in union.

"Don't give away their position," Artemis hissed at the book.

"**Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

"**His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

"She's one smart cookie," Apollo smiled, then frowned as he suddenly found himself wanting one…or 29…maybe 40…

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. **

"Uh-oh," Hephaestus muttered ominously.

"Here we go again," Hades said sadly.

"I hope it will be over quickly," Persephone sighed, leaning back into her husband, "I can't take any more tension."

**He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded. **

_**Not a scratch,**_**I remembered Gabe saying.**

**Oops.**

"Ha ha," Ares yelled, as the others smiled happily as some of their tension eased, "take that Smelly Gabe!"

"At least one good thing has come from the attack," Hermes agreed, smiling happily.

"You go, Percy!" Apollo cheered, as Poseidon smiled.

_He'll be okay…_

"**Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way—directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

"She's a_ very _smart woman," Aphrodite smiled at Poseidon. "No wonder you were so attracted to her."

"Yes," Athena agreed. "You do suit one another well, because you know what they say: opposites will attract."

"Mean," Poseidon mock frowned at her, secretly glad that she approved of his love.

_Why did we even have to split up…?_

"**How do you know all this?"**

"**I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

"**Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

"Don't worry," Hestia whispered to a tensing Poseidon, "He will get through this."

"I_ know_ he will," he answered confidently, with a thin smile upon his face.

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

"Maybe in future we should invest in an escalator?" Apollo suggested lamely.

"So not funny, brother," Artemis shook her head at him, "and so not the time."

_Fight, fight, fight_, Ares counted down the seconds in anticipation.

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. **

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

_Come on,_ they chanted silently in encouragement.

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

"Urgh," Aphrodite gagged, putting a hand over her mouth and nose in disgust as Ares snickered at her reaction.

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt,**

"Stand firm," Ares warned him. "Wait until the last possible movement."

"You can do it," Hestia cheered him on.

**But that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.**

**So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

"Good," Ares approved, "Now find an appropriate weapon and attack!"

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

"What? No!" Poseidon yelled in horror.

"I thought you guys said that the bull man would leave them alone once he had Percy in his sight?" Apollo yelled frantically.

"We did," Athena stuttered, "he should! I'm not sure why he would suddenly change his mind…unless…"

"What?" he asked quickly.

"Sshhh," she said, leaning forward, then thought about what had happened only a couple of minutes ago. "Sorry, Apollo," she added, "but I'm trying to concentrate."

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

"Great," Zeus groaned glumly, crossing his arms in frustration.

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"No!" Poseidon screeched, "don't draw any more attention upon yourself!"

"There there," Persephone cooed, embracing him tightly, trying desperately to comfort him.

"**Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummelling the air.**

"No!" Poseidon cried in horror, as Aphrodite immediately felt his heart break at the very centre of her soul .

"No!" she screamed. _I didn't even have a chance to unite them together…_

"**Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into the light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply … gone.**

"No," the majority of the gods cried, helpless to help the poor woman.

"You!" Poseidon screamed at Hades, effortlessly pushing his wife away to stride over to him, "this is all your fault!"

"Brother," Hades started as Poseidon –who was in a deep rage- yanked him off his seat and tackled him to the floor.

"How dare you!" he yelled, punching and cursing him.

"I-" he started, making no effort to fight back.

"She was innocent!"

"Separate them now," Athena pleaded to her father, who simply stared at his fighting brothers as if in shock.

However, upon his daughters words he quickly gathered himself once again, and ordered the other gods around him to intercede and to pull Poseidon off of Hades.

"Zeus," Poseidon warned him, his eyes red, "if you,…"

"My daughter has something she wishes to tell you," he said simply, "so I suggest that you calm yourself NOW."

"Firstly, Poseidon," Athena said, as he attempted to force himself to be in control once again. "It's not Hades –at least present Hades'- fault, as this happens in the future. Secondly," she moved on, "since this happens in the future her fate can be easily avoided, especially since present Hades has no wish to harm the both of them in any way."

"Can she truly be spared?" Aphrodite spoke softly, as if not daring to hope.

"See can, yes," Athena said simply, as joy began to course through the love goddess once again.

_Then I won't fail,_ she declared strongly, _in getting this couple back together!_

Her heart lifted even more as Poseidon allowed himself to hope, "You _truly_ speak the truth?" he whispered to his nemesis. "This isn't just a cruel trick you have decided to play upon me?"

"I swear on the River Styx," she declared. "That she's alive and well in this lifetime, and that every one of us in this room will do everything in their power to keep it that way, so I strongly suggest that you forgive your brother."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, after a few minutes.

"Not as sorry as I am," Hades said swiftly, almost kindly.

"What is more," Athena continued, "I do not believe that future Sally has been killed either, but has simply been taken prisoner in the Underworld – for what reason, I do not know."

"H-how do you come to this conclusion," Poseidon asked, starting to smile.

"The light Percy spoke of, before she disappeared," Athena answered him, "seems more like the light that happens when we summon someone, or travel instantly as we do, does it not? Plus," she added, as the others sighed in relief, "that's not how this monster kills its victims, so its highly probably – almost certain I dare to say – that she's been taken captive somewhere else. So," she concluded, facing a joyous looking Poseidon, "I suggest we carry on reading to see how your son is faring."

"Read," Poseidon ordered Hermes, smiling tightly as he remembered his sons predicament.

"They'll both be fine," Hera whispered to him, "you'll see."

Hermes gulped and read on.

"**No!" **

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons. **

"Now fight this beast," Ares hollered, "and make him pay for what he's taken from you!"

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that. **

_You can do this,_ Poseidon roared, _I believe in you!_

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

"Woop woop!" Apollo cheered, "go Percy!"

"Isn't it just an awesome coincidence," Hermes grinned suddenly, "that he just happens to be wearing red?"

"It's not a coincidence," Apollo denied happily, making the room smile once again, "he's just plain awesome!"

"**Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"You've just got to love his insults," Dionysus said humourlessly, as Aphrodite bobbed her head in agreement.

"**Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea—a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all.**

"Stupid ideas," Chiron commented, "are sometimes the best ideas of them all."

Poseidon grinned proudly in thought of his son.

_Whatever happens,_ he promised, _I'll always love you._

**I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

"It never does." Artemis said in sympathy, as Ares started fiddling nervously.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

Hades gulped nervously, sending a silent prayer for the boy's safety.

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

"That is quite strange," Hermes agreed. "And highly original."

"It's ingenious," Ares smiled excitedly, already seeing what was coming next.

**How did I do that?**

"I'm not sure," Apollo admitted, "but you're absolutely awesome!"

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

"Ouch," Zeus winced.

"Ha ha, sucker," Ares laughed at the bull's misfortune.

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. **

"I wish you three," Hera sighed, referring to the brothers, "would just calm down and talk over your problems like reasonable gentlemen for once!"

"It is getting quite annoying," Persephone added, as the trio looked semi-ashamed at their behaviour.

"We'll try," they said at last, "but we're not promising anything."

**The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

"That's just sickening," Aphrodite groaned, despite it all.

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

"Slow." Artemis coughed, as Poseidon glowered down at her in warning.

"I think it sounds kind of fun," Dionysus interrupted, "if it weren't for the fact that they were actually trying to kill each other, of course."

"Oh, of course!" Apollo agreed grinning widely.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

"OUCH," they winced.

"**Food!" Grover moaned.**

"Stupid Satyr," Zeus muttered once again, casing Hera to sigh in defeat.

"But he is!"

"Hurmph!"

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—**_**snap!**_

"Yes," Hephaestus cheered, "Now he has a weapon!"

"At last!" Aphrodite grinned at him.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. **

The room winced hard at that, almost feeling the injury themselves.

_Get up,_ Poseidon pleaded swiftly.

**When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

**The monster charged.**

"Stab him," Ares instructed.

"Then go immediately to the farm house for help," Chiron advised.

**Without thinking**,

"He sure does a lot of things without thinking," Athena grumbled.

"You say that as if it were a bad thing," Hermes said, "but it's helped him a lot so far."

"But if he'd just think a little," she coaxed him, "don't you think he'd even better?"

Hermes looked for a few seconds as if he were deep in thought. "Nah," he said finally, aggravating the goddess of wisdom even more.

Apollo, meanwhile, high-fived him, "good one, bro!"

Hermes simply smiled and continued to read

**I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barrelled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under the furry rib cage.**

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

"Impressive," Ares congratulated Poseidon, "he's getting better."

Poseidon simply smiled in happiness at having his son praised openly by his family and at the further promise that his love was still alive and most probably unhurt.

**The monster was gone.**

"Duh," Dionysus rolled his eyes at the boys stupidity, as Demeter wacked him across the head.

"Don't be so mean," she tutted.

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish.**

"Have faith as I do, son," Poseidon whispered to him, "that you'll see her again one day – alive and well."

**I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.**

"I feel so sorry for him," Hestia whispered, as the others around her nodded.

"He doesn't deserve this harsh treatment," Hades agreed.

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at the ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar—looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

"Oh, I bet it's one of my girls." Aphrodite said beaming happily that they were included in the story.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

"**Silence, Annabeth,"**

"That's my Annabeth." Athena said in pleasant astonishment, as Aphrodite pouted slightly in disappointment. "Though I do wonder why she addressed the boy in that manner…"

"I'm sure we're sure to find out," Chiron said helpfully, pleased that Percy recognised him.

**The man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Hermes concluded shutting the book.

Everyone sat in a thoughtful silence for a minute or two, before Zeus began.

"That was quite a chapter."

"I'll say," Aphrodite answered tiredly.

"At least," Chiron added, "that Percy will be safe in camp for a little while now."

"That's something," Poseidon agreed. "I don't think I could take another attack so soon after this one."

"He'll now be properly trained and taught exactly what's going on around him," Hera smiled warmly, "where we'll no doubt meet and hear from other children of ours."

The other god's spirits lightened considerably at that, as they all began to talk in excitement amongst themselves.

"Silence," Zeus commanded moodily, "Now we'll have our regular break, and will meet back here – silently and promptly- to read the next chapter."

"Now go," Hera ordered them, as they all swiftly vanished into various hazes of glorious light.

_**(A.N. And that's a wrap guys! Hope you liked it. Can't wait to write the next chapter, as it's sure to be more fun and layed back, where the other gods finally have a chance at seeing and praising their own children and not just Percy. **_

_**Reviews are always welcome if you wish to advise me on either my writing techniques or plot development, or if you in general just wish to tell me something.**_

_**Thanks again for those of you who have already sent me reviews, they were very helpful.**_

_**Have a good day now!)**_

_**T.T.F.N.**_


	8. Music, Mood and Too Much Explanations!

_**(A.N. Thanks for the reviews guys- I always like to hear what you're thinking. **_

_**Also, I'd like to apologise for keeping you waiting for longer than usual – as I sadly had to give up my laptop for this week to focus on finishing my coursework by the set deadline. To now balance things out between upcoming exams and writing these chapters I'll just stick to updating this weekly for now.**_

_**Hope you enjoy the chapter. In this scene- thanks to one particular reviewer ;) I decided to add some references to music for some good old cheesy entertainment. )**_

_**Now without further a due….**_

**Chapter 8 = Music, Mood and Too Much Explanations**

Aphrodite and Ares, surprisingly, were the first ones back in the throne room. As they sat down however, they grew unusually quiet towards each other, most likely in consequence at the comments stated hours before. Ares, confused at the feelings of tension, tried to meet the goddesses gaze, but she simply chose to look anywhere but at him. Frowning hurtfully, he conjured up a snack and started to eat, as Aphrodite continued to glance at herself in her hand mirror. The tension increased steadily as Hephaestus came hesitantly into the room and sat down upon his throne, staring at the both of them with his eyebrows raised high with suspicion.

"Enjoy your break, darling?" Hephaestus asked her warily.

"It was alright I suppose," she concluded, putting down her mirror to face her husband.

"Did the sapphires you asked for your jewellery arrive?" He asked, attempting to find a common ground.

"Yes, they actually did," she replied amused, not used to her husband making such an effort to involve herself in her likes.

"Well," he concluded, looking awkward and not used to such communication, "when you've finished, you must bring them to me so that I may also praise them and, perhaps, add some final touches, to make the pieces look more unique and original on you."

"That would be lovely," she purred warmly at him, "I'll do just that."

"Your welcome," he smiled, as Ares glowered jealously in silence.

"I'm not sure what has come over you recently," she told her husband, smiling devilishly, "but I like it: it so becomes you."

"Thank you," he grinned.

"Aphro," Ares started, his voice softening to an almost gentle caress, "I'm sorr…"

He was interrupted suddenly by the arrival of Apollo and Hermes, who were laughing at some random happening that occurred in the short amount of time he last saw them. Sending a last wishful look at his girlfriend, he evaporated what was left of his meal and focused his attention on the two men.

"What's so funny?" he asked them as they took their seats.

"Believe me," Hermes said, rolling his eyes at Apollo, "you _do not_ want to know."

"What I will tell you though," Apollo leaned towards him, and mock whispered, "it was all Hermes fault."

Hermes eyes widened in sudden protest, "You liar! It was not!"

"You're the one who threw that pig that started the whole problem!"

"You told me that you foresaw danger and that I had to if I wanted to live a happy and fulfilled life!"

"No," Apollo shook his head firmly, laughing all the while, "I told you I thought it would be a good idea for us to go to the _gig_. You _really_ should get your ears tested!"

"That's bollocks, and you know it!" he argued, "I'm the god of messengers, so I think I would have got your forewarning loud and clear, thank you very much!"

"Guys, guys," Aphrodite shushed them, "enough! You're giving me a migraine!"

"Sorry," they chorused, though hardly sounding sympathetic.

"Besides," she added in sudden thought glancing at Apollo, "how was going to a gig going to ensure he was going to live a happy and fulfilled life?"

"Um," Apollo looked sheepishly at her, "because he was going to make me happy?"

"Bully," she snorted at him, as Hermes smiled at him in triumph.

"So," Hephaestus added after a moment, "what exactly did happen after you, um, threw a pig – which I still can't believe you did, Hermes?"

The two males shuddered violently in horror at the sheer thought.

"Believe us," Apollo winced, "you don't want to know."

Demeter, Artemis and Hestia strode swiftly into the room then, apparently in the middle of discussing that years annual ball.

"I think I'll wear something other than green this year," Demeter replied, whilst sitting back down comfortingly upon her throne once again, "as I really think it's time for a change."

"Me too," Hestia mused in agreement. "If this is what we both feel, why don't you wear the warm colours that I usually wear and I'll wear your earthly colours."

"Yes," Demeter thought, "that would be quite a change – though I'll still stick to my style of dresses, as I don't want to change too drastically – and I hope the guests are not too confused by the change."

"It's just a dress," Hestia answered her confidently, "what's the harm?"

"You'll have to wait and see what colour I'll be wearing," Aphrodite smiled widely, "though I'll give you a hint and tell you that I'm accompanying the dress with blue jewellery that will look absolutely fabulous after Hephaestus is done sprucing it up to perfection!"

"Lucky you," Demeter sighed, glancing at the smiling smith god, "I wish I had a man like that who'd do stuff for me."

"I personally wouldn't," Hestia smiled shyly, "but I must admit your husband is amazing at his work."

"Ow, thanks guys!" Aphrodite gushed happily.

"I'll just be dressing down this year," Artemis stated.

"As usual," they chorused.

"Why don't you try something different this year for a change?" Demeter wondered, "It wouldn't hurt you to wear something more feminine and shiny."

"With a lot of lace," Aphrodite added, sizing up the girl, "it'll make you look adorable as well as beautiful, but if you put it in the right places it could make you appear fierce: which I imagine is more the style that you're looking for."

"I'll think about it," Artemis replied genuinely, admitting silently to herself that it did sound quite appealing.

"Are you still talking about the decorations to the ball?" Poseidon shuddered, as he and Dionysus appeared to take their seats.

"We're on to costumes now," Demeter smiled evilly at her brother, as Dionysus yawned in boredom.

"Have these naughty girls been doing your head in a little with their constant talk of the ball, Uncle?" Hermes smiled innocently.

"It's all they've been talking about," Dionysus groaned, "since we left for that blasted break. We finally ditched them about ten minutes ago, as we were in desperate need of a break from them!"

"Never again," Poseidon promised, shaking his head in disbelief as Artemis snickered playfully.

"WE'RE ON A HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

"What on earth was that?" Ares jumped violently, looking around in confusion.

"If I'm not mistaken," Apollo said, "it's 'Highway to Hell' by AC-DC."

"Who?" Hephaestus, Artemis and Hestia asked bewildered.

"A music group, duh," Dionysus sighed, rolling his eyes. "You guys should really get with the times."

"Who's singing it?" Aphrodite wondered, as her heart beat increased rapidly and strongly – a sign that a loving couple was close by.

"WE'RE ON A HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

The music blasted through the walls once again, as Persephone and Hades strode into the room and sat down upon their makeshift seats.

"Um, what was that?" Apollo asked, raising his eyebrows high.

"Our new door bell for the Underworld," Persephone grinned, "Do you like it? We picked it mostly because of the irony it holds."

"Plus," Hades added, "it's quite a catchy tune."

"Like it?" Hermes said incredulously, "It's awesome!"

"Totally," Aphrodite nodded her head in agreement. "I wish I'd thought of that – it's so cute!"

"The simple idea of it is awesome! So awesome," Apollo grinned mischievously, "that I'm now going to do the same thing to everyone!"

"You're going to give all the other gods a door bell for their palaces that rings "I'm on a highway to hell?" Dionysus asked him dryly, one eyebrow raised high.

"Not that ringtone," Apollo scoffed, "but a ringtone – with the same amount of irony and cheesiness I might add - that matches their personalities or job descriptions perfectly."

"It sounds like fun," Artemis ventured, secretly glad that she chose to live out amongst her hunters, where she could hardly be bothered by the stupid doorbell.

"Yeah, I'm game," Aphrodite grinned, "let's do it now to pass the time until the others get here."

"Okay," Apollo grinned widely, "let's start with you then-"

"Oh no," Hestia disagreed, "since it was your idea, we do your door bell first."

"Okay," Apollo said indifferently, "if that's what you want. What would you say would be the perfect ironic song for my door bell?"

The group thought hard for a few moments, before Hermes sat up straight and yelled, "I've got it! The perfect cheesy song for you!"

"What?" Apollo said excitedly.

"Walking on Sunshine," he replied happily, "by Katrina and the-"

"Waves," Apollo finished, as the others laughed at the similarities between the song and the man.

"Wow Hermes," Aphrodite smiled, "good one – that really suits him!"

The others agreed heartily, as Apollo laughed at the cheesiness.

"It's awesome," he admitted, "in the next break I'm going to install it in my palace, as well as the other ones we'll figure out today!"

"Cool," Persephone grinned, "Aphrodite next I think, especially as it looked like you were going to suggest something to her already."

"Yeah, Apollo," she smiled confidently, not at all unnerved by the possible choices that could come up. "Dare I ask what have you got in store for me?"

"The one and only, Barbie Girl!" he announced grandly, as the others giggled childishly.

"Ha ha," Demeter struggled to speak as she doubled over with laughter. "That's a good one!"

"I love it!" Aphrodite said. "I can't wait until you install it."

"I've also got one for you too already, Uncle," Apollo grinned at Poseidon happily.

"And knowing Apollo's mind alarmingly well," Hermes chuckled darkly, "I think I can guess what it is."

"You love me really," Apollo rolled his eyes at him, before turning back to face his Uncle triumphantly. "Under the sea, of course!"

"I was expecting that," Poseidon nodded unruffled. "Where I also have no problem with it, though I do have a suggestion what song you could give your father."

"And what is that?" he grinned evilly, as Poseidon leaned in to whisper it into his ear.

"The next break I suggest you set these up immediately to everyone, so that the ones that are absent may be highly surprised at your handy work," Poseidon suggested as Apollo chuckled in anticipation.

"What tune shall we decide would be best for Artemis then?" Persephone smiled at the girl.

"I have an idea," Hades suggested innocently, surprising his wife and quite a few others, "though I do not think she'll like it."

"Well, as long as it's ironic, cheesy or just plain funny," Apollo stated, "I'm sure we'll just love to hear it."

"Yes," Demeter mused, frowning slightly at him, "what is it, _brother_."

"A man's world," Hades smiled softly, as the others once again erupted in laughter.

"Good one," Hermes high-fived him, as Artemis glowered at them in outrage.

"You wouldn't dare," she warned them, venomously.

"Ow, come on sis," Apollo snorted at her. "It's only innocent fun and games, remember?"

"You're despicable," she glowered sulkily.

"So," Hermes said, "in this room we still have Demeter, Hephaestus, Ares and Dionysus left to go."

"Never mind us for a minute," Ares smiled eagerly, "I've just thought up a good one for our darling sister, Athena!"

"What is it?" Poseidon asked, highly interested.

"Oh, nothing much," Ares started innocently, "I was thinking of all kinds of things that were connected to her, when I suddenly remembered that she had quite a dislike for spiders…"

"No," Hermes gasped in realisation.

"You didn't…" Apollo grinned.

"I did!"

"What is it?" Demeter asked confused, as Dionysus rolled his eyes.

"You seriously don't know?" he snorted. "It's a song these three invented a while ago in attempt to annoy Athena."

On cue, the trio jumped into motion, rein-acting the song out perfectly. "Incy wincy spider…."

"She'll kill you!" Demeter exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, I beg to differ," Apollo shook his head sadly. "Knowing my sister she'll be all out for well crafted and planned revenge."

As if on cue, the goddess of wisdom entered the room, accompanied by Chiron, Zeus and Hera. As they sat down, Apollo whispered to the rest of the group, who looked uneasily at the god. "Don't worry," he assured them, which made them even more nervous, "as we'll be reading I'll come up with the perfect song to fit into your new and stylish door bells, and I'll fix them for you all instantly at the start of the break: so you can go and listen to it at the end."

As he stopped whispering, Athena addressed the group, "Sorry we're a little late returning. We were delayed in attempting to sort out the sudden uproar that happened just recently on the east side of Olympus," she stated, as Hermes and Apollo sunk slowly lower into their chairs at the horrid reminder of the incident. "Does anyone know the cause of this incident?"

A chorus of no's circled the room, as the goddess continued to look in disbelief at them all. "Well, I simply refuse to believe that, seeing as-"

"Daughter," Zeus interrupted her tiredly, "we'll settle this matter later on. For now we have more pressing matters at hand."

"Who wishes to read the next chapter?" Hermes silently mimicked his father to the chuckling Apollo.

"Now, who wished to read the next chapter?"

"He really does need to vary his speech," Apollo whispered in silent laughter.

"Thank you for volunteering, son," Zeus said, as Apollo's grin froze in place.

"Uh, what was that?" he asked dumbly as the others laughed quietly around him.

"Thanks for volunteering to read the next chapter," Zeus grinned, thrusting the book at him, "after all, that was what you just whispered, wasn't it?"

Appearing trapped, Apollo took the book grudgingly and opened it to the right page and began to read its title.

"**I play Pinochle with a Horse."**

"Finally," Dionysus sighed, "now the boy will finally be told the truth and I'll get to see how I'm portrayed in the book. Marvellous."

"Yeah," Artemis glared, "because it's just all about you, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," Dionysus agreed with her, not sounding the least bit sarcastic, "wonderful, isn't it?"

Apollo just carried on reading.

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"Urgh, Apollo muttered, "I hate having that dream."

"Poor kid," Demeter said raising an eyebrow at him, as the others sighed in agreement, "he's under way too much stress way too young."

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

"Aw, that's adorable!" Aphrodite gushed, smiling happily towards Athena and Poseidon. "You're children are getting along so well already! Dare I …"

"If you're even thinking of attempting to use your powers upon my daughter," Athena glared hatefully at her, "you will not like the consequences that will soon follow."

"How much times do I have to tell you," Aphrodite groaned at the maiden goddess, "my magic doesn't work like you seem to think it does. For it to work, there must be feeling of love there to start with, so…"

"The warning still stands," she glowered at Poseidon, "as I'll never allow my daughter to be seduced by the spawn of Poseidon."

"That's enough now," Hera ordered, seeing as Poseidon was about to lose his temper at the goddess. "Nothing has happened yet in the novel to indicate such behaviour from you, Athena, so I do not see the point in arguing further to create a problem. Now, Apollo, just carry on reading."

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"Now," Hades murmured in thought, "how does she know that something's meant to happen at this solstice?"

"Because," Artemis said innocently, "unlike most men, she actually has a brain in her head?"

Apollo just glared at her before continuing.

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would over hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

"Okay, so there's a few week until the solstice," Hera thought, "where we know your weapons been stolen and that you two," she glared at Zeus and Poseidon, who looked sheepishly at her, "are still arguing furiously over it. But what happens at this solstice?"

"Maybe," Athena said quietly, still hurt by Hera's comment and eager to make amends, "that this is the deadline you've given for the return of the bolt? Or that an unknown threat is said to attack at this particular date because of the theft?"

"That does sound plausible," Chiron nodded his head in agreement.

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

"She's as nice and caring as her mother," Poseidon muttered quietly, causing the trio to chuckle and Athena to wonder what had just been said between them.

"Uncle…"

Apollo quickly decided to read on.

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

**A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes- at least a dozen of them- on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

"Mmm," Hermes winced as Dionysus rolled his eyes, "I think he has a good few more than that, cousin."

"Quite a good few more," Dionysus yawned widely. "When am I coming into it, then?"

"Soon enough," Apollo groaned at him, "if you actually let me finish reading this page this century!"

"Sorry!" he replied with heavy sarcasm, as Apollo frowned, "now you know what it's like to keep having people interrupt you to tell stupid and unnecessary comments to one another."

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.**

"Urgh," the gods shuddered violently at the image.

"That must be painful," Ares winced.

**My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth** hurt.

"Aw, the poor dear." Persephone cooed. "I feel your pain."

"No you don't," Hephaestus scoffed at her. "You're a god! You've never even had a toothache."

"I was trying to sound understanding," Persephone concluded, a little ticked off at being corrected by another.

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.**

"That seems like an awfully large amount of nectar that you've given him there," Hermes warned Chiron warily.

"I'm sure it's there as a precaution," the centaur answered confidently.

"Yeah," Ares rolled his eyes, "along with the mini umbrella."

**My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week.**

"He's probably been too worried about your health," Demeter sighed softly at the Satyrs kindness.

"And worried about his own future if something else goes wrong with the boy," Zeus commented shortly, "after all, I would be if I were him," before allowing Apollo to continue.

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box.**

"Okayyyy," Apollo thought aloud. "That's weird."

"To each his own," Athena sighed at her brother. "He must have his reasons for doing so."

**He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.**

"Oh no," Dionysus exclaimed. "Don't you even think of pretending this didn't happen."

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And...**

The others sighed, half in frustration and half in sympathy at the loss Percy was feeling.

"It wasn't a nightmare, son," Poseidon spoke sadly, "it did happen: where you need to adapt to this world quickly now if you want to survive in it – and to save your mother."

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

"Weird," Apollo said again, shaking his head at the Satyr.

"There's probably something_ inside_ the box, you moron," Artemis sighed in frustration at her brothers ignorance.

"Oh, I knew that!" Apollo scoffed, then hastily continued to read.

"Yeah, right."

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

"See?"

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

"Urgh," Athena groaned at the boy, "does he not remember what his mother said about names?"

Poseidon just looked astonished at her lack of feeling, "I think at this point his mind is more focused on losing his mother and waking up into a world that's completely new to him than trying to learn little facts like that!"

Athena kept her head lowered, not trusting herself to speak again.

**"Urm, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"**

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really ..."**

**He looked down.**

"Most probably not," Hades disagreed, eyeing Poseidon, "so there's still hope to be had."

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

The others just stared morbidly around the throne room, as they felt the weight of the boy's emotions upon them, and not knowing how to shake it off.

_Don't give up on her that easily_, Poseidon whispered. _She's much stronger than you think_…

**"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm- I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

"Well," Zeus said simply, attempting to be kind to earn a smile of pleasure from his wife, "you technically didn't fail, seeing as you got him into camp alive, and you're probably not the worst Satyr in the world -"

"-even if you do come remarkably close to being so," Dionysus finished.

"Exactly," Zeus grinned, as Hera's sudden smile faded slightly.

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off.**

"Ouch," Aphrodite winced.

"Oh, please," Artemis groaned, "it wasn't his actual foot."

"Huh?"

**I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"Oh," Aphrodite sighed happily in realisation, as Artemis closed her eyes as if she were in pain.

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

"Yes," Demeter glared at her brother, "we get that you're angry, already!"

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head.**

"After five chapters he finally gets it," Dionysus cheered sarcastically.

Poseidon and Hestia glared at him darkly, saying nothing.

**But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaur's'. All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

"But she isn't dead, sweetie," Hestia said, "but in the Underworld with your Uncle."

"Which is just as bad," Apollo muttered, as Poseidon glared darkly once at his brother.

"Did we mention," Persephone added, "that we were thinking of painting the palace dungeons luminous pink?"

"Uh-what?" Poseidon stammered in bewilderment, losing his train of thought.

"Why pink?" Aphrodite asked in surprise. "Pink's a beautiful colour, so why decorate a room up prettily when it's supposed to make you feel depressed and miserable?"

"Pink is a frightful colour," Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Chiron, Athena and Zeus shuddered, "and it would be the most hellish idea for a new dungeon in my opinion."

"Which is why," Hades announced evilly, "that we're decorating it that colour: as I strongly feel that keeping it dark and black is too much of a comfort for them – where they deserve to suffer strongly for their crimes."

"Plus," Persephone grinned, "the bright luminous wallpaper will be murder to their eyes- as the prisoners are so use to living in the shadows: so it'll make them suffer even more."

"Plus," Hades added further, grinning widely at the pouting Aphrodite, "we'll be saving a fortune on lights for the dungeon."

"This is all very well," Hera sighed, "but we really need to be getting back to the novel now."

"Right," Apollo nodded looking back down at the book in his hands, "Now, where was I?"

**I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe?**

"I'd sooner run away to live on the streets first," Hermes snorted, "than have to live with that walrus."

"Here, here," Apollo said dryly, as Poseidon nodded.

"Hopefully," Demeter said, "it will never have to come to that."

"I'll even adopt him," Persephone said genuinely, earning a true smile from the sea god, "before I'll let that jerk be anywhere near him."

**No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. **

"It's always good to hear him agreeing with us," Hermes and Poseidon smiled at the boy's comment.

**I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.**

"That would be cool to read about," Ares sighed, thinking of all the war stories that he could have been reading.

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid- poor goat, satyr, whatever- looked as if he expected to be hit.**

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

"Don't lie to the satyr, he'll believe you." Dionysus stated, only to be slapped hard across the face moments later by Demeter. "What was that for?"

"It wasn't his fault," she objected strongly in outrage, "any more that it was yours!"

"Okay, okay," he muttered weakly, "just don't hit me again!"

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to **_**protect **_**you."**

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."**

"The jury's probably still out on that one," Zeus said indifferently.

**"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

"Uh-oh," Artemis said worriedly.

**"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies.**

"I've so got to try that," Apollo moaned in earnest.

**And not just any cookies- my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

"Awww" the females in the room cooed.

"Everything will be okay," Poseidon smiled positively at him – or rather, the image of his son he had in his mind.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"That's just really weird," Hephaestus commented, as everyone's gaze turned towards him, "no wonder the boy's having nightmares."

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

"Ha ha," Ares laughed, "we'd wish you'd have let him taste it: I mean, think of the entertainment value!"

"True," Dionysus nodded as Chiron just shook his head at him.

_Of all the gods_, he thought sadly, _why did Zeus have to send him to watch over our camp?_

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."**

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Home made."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

"Woop, woop!" Hermes cheered gleefully. "She deserves to have her behind kicked real badly."

**"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff"**

**"What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

"Finally," Dionysus groaned, "the good part has arrived."

"Well, _this_ should be interesting." Apollo grinned.

"You know," Chiron addressed the wine god hesitantly, "seeing that Percy's quite an opinionated and rebellious child, he might not see you – to start with! – in such a brilliant light."

"Pfft," he replied, and signalled to Apollo – who was trying desperately not to laugh – to continue reading.

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

"You shouldn't have to," Hestia agreed comfortingly.

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

"Home sweet home from now on," Hermes said, in such a saddened tone that it surprised everyone.

"Are you okay?" Apollo asked worriedly, his head rising from the book in his hands.

"Yeah," he replied, quickly collecting himself, "I'm fine."

Apollo just looked at him, knowing that there was more to it than that, but not wanting to question him further in public. After a few moments of indecision, he lowered his gaze back to the novel's pages and once again began reading.

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture: an open-air pavilion, an amphitheatre, a circular arena; except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

"Sounds really lovely so far," Persephone ventured, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"It certainly does," Hephaestus said, "until he actually learns the reason behind the activities, then I suspect that his view of the place will swiftly take a nose dive."

"It wouldn't have hurt you," she replied sadly, "to have played along for once, instead of being a pessimist."

"I was merely stating the truth," Hephaestus protested. "That doesn't make me a pessimist!"

"Well," Demeter finished quietly, "you're definitely not an optimist."

"There's always time for a person to change," Aphrodite concluded simply, before Apollo carried on swiftly.

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavoured pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

"There we are," Chiron sighed, more than a little nervous at how Dionysus would take Percy's descriptions.

**The man facing me was small, but porky. **

Hermes snorted violently at the description, turning it hastily into a chesty cough as Dionysus turned to glare at him suddenly.

"Sorry," Hermes spoke sheepishly, "I, uh, forgot..to… swallow?"

Apollo just shook his head in silent laughter and continued to read, trying desperately to keep his voice sounding normal.

**He had a red nose, **

"Like Rudolf?" Ares whispered, as Hermes put his fist into his mouth in attempt not to laugh aloud any further.

"Maybe," Hermes whispered to Apollo, "you should use Ares' clever remark as Dionysus new ringtone. After all, I'm sure he'll love it!"

Apollo took a deep breath to calm himself from laughing and carried on reading, struggling to keep the smile of triumph off his face while turning to look at the glaring god sitting just a few thrones from him.

**big watery eyes,**

"Cry baby," Ares whispered silently, rolling his eyes unsurprisingly at the god in question himself.

**and curly hair so black it was almost purple. **

"Well," Aphrodite amended rather loudly, trying to comfort him, "this part isn't too bad. He might be starting to like you."

**He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park.**

A look of outrage passed violently across Dionysus' face, as his features darkened quickly in anger, which worsened further by as the gods and goddesses unchecked laughter burst out throughout the room.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Hermes said between guffaws, turning his head towards the grinning Poseidon, "your son is completely awesome!"

"Aw," Artemis cooed playfully at him, "you are the youngest of us after all," she added, looking him up and down, as if trying to see the resemblance to the description, "so I think it's perfectly understandable that the boy thinks you look like a sweet little baby cherub."

"Oh," Apollo objected, "that's not quite true, sis."

"Pardon?" she asked.

"Percy didn't say he looked quite – so stop trying to cheer him up."

"Yeah," Hermes added, "it was more along the lines of a scruffy cherub."

Friendly laughter erupted once again, as Dionysus fumed even more, whereupon Apollo quickly decided to read on.

**He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties,**

"Now that," Hephaestus commented, looking at Apollo and Artemis, "is worse than any insult that you could have given him."

Aphrodite giggled in agreement with her husband, because, after all, everyone knew that that fashion clash was more than two decades old and was now highly unpopular.

**except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step father.**

"I can out gamble _anyone_!" Dionysus fumed, disliking the boy immensely.

"Please," Hades rolled his eyes in amusement. "You can't even beat the centaur!"

"Whatever!"

**"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. **

"A little bit late for that warning," Chiron stated innocently, as the god continued to glower at him.

"What?"

**The girl, that's Annabeth Chase.** **She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. **

_Where you had better stay well clear of her,_ Athena all but shouted out, o_r else you'll have me to deal with!_

**And you already know Chiron..."**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers **_**B**_**.**

"Cheater," Hermes grinned at Chiron.

"I do not cheat," huffed the centaur, "but I do enjoy being somewhat creative in my methods.

"Cheater," he repeated playfully, as Apollo carried on.

**"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

"Which is," Dionysus stated, somewhat calmer than he was a few moments ago, "one of the best games of the last century."

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

"Why,'_Mr. D_'," Poseidon glared at him, "aren't you just a positive ray of sunshine."

"I do hope, Demeter added, thinking of all the campers that were under his care as well as her own children, "that you aren't this sullen all of the time."

"You would be too," Dionysus promised her, "if you were forced to be surrounded constantly with little brats- who you'll have to continuously watch grow, train, mature and die-, with your favourite pastime being taken away from you."

"It doesn't help that you're incredibly selfish and self-centred," she argued, though soundly a lot more feeble from what was most likely the wine god's wirds.

"If you're a god," he replied quietly, confusing everyone present further about what to feel about the subject, "you have to be that way to be able to better survive eternity: where I do not see what on earth can be done to lesson this blow, much less change it."

"What exactly," Zeus said, "do you mean by that?"

"You say I should be nicer to the little brats down there," Dionysus stated. "You want me to do what you can't: show them love and care and keep them safe, but I can't because I'm bound by the same laws as you. Worse in fact, as I must cut myself off emotionally towards them, as they will not live forever like us, where they will eventually die around me, with a lot of them suffering an early gruesome death.

The continued, sounding almost sad, "we can't save them from death, and we can't stop the threats from coming at them. We can't change these facts: it's impossible to even try, so let's just carry on reading now."

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, **_**if **_**there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

Poseidon laughed, despite the gloomy atmosphere, as Hades smiled faintly at him, "Percy doesn't even know who you are yet and he's got you pegged down!"

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. **

"I'm sorry, Athena," Persephone cooed, "but that _is_ so sweet."

"I told you so!" Aphrodite exclaimed happily at another's agreement, as the wisdom goddess frowned moodily upon her throne.

**Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

"Better watch out though," Hermes warned the boy hesitantly, "my cabin's got a _little _bit crowded just recently…"

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"That's my girl!" Athena said proudly, as the others shook their heads at her ignorance of the possible and probable upcoming situation.

**She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, **_**You killed a minotaur! **_**or **_**Wow, you're so awesome! **_**or something like that.**

"He's got a bit of an ego, hasn't he?" Hera raised her elegant eyebrows high.

"Not at all," Hestia disagreed heartily, "he's just trying to guess what and how the others at the camp are thinking, so that he could try to fit in quicker, or just to make conversation."

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

Laughter filled the throne room of Olympus, Athena's the highest of all.

Poseidon smiled thinly, as he leaned over and whispered into Apollo's ear, "Immediately after you read the last word of the chapter you must do what we discussed earlier: where you must also start with Athena."

Apollo just smiled, "it will be my pleasure."

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. **

"Uh-what?" Hermes asked confused.

"A pseudonym," repeated Apollo helpfully.

"No, I know what you just said," Hermes said in irritation, "But I wasn't to know what it means."

"Well," Athena started, taking in a deep breath, "looking firstly at the sentence structure, and then briefly at the word in question, we would find that…"

"A disguise," Chiron said hurriedly, cutting her off.

"A lie," Hephaestus suggested helpfully.

"Kay," Hermes nodded frantically, "get it now, so you can carry on reading, Apollo."

"Thought you'd never ask," he grinned impishly, before moving swiftly onwards.

**You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"**

"Your son really does have a death wish, uncle." Artemis spoke quietly as she saw Dionysus' face redden at the show of such disrespect.

"He doesn't know any better yet," Poseidon defended him, his face reddening quickly himself.

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly.**

"Please," Dionysus scoffed moodily, "I bet I'd have reacted kinder to you if you had."

"Just get over it already!" Persephone huffed at him.

"No!"

**"Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

"Please," Hermes rolled his eyes, "like that's the real reason that you're throwing a tiff like a teenage girl with raging hormones! You're just grumpy that the boy offended you by not knowing who you were the instant he walked into the room: most of them don't, so get over it already!" he concluded, deliberately trying to sound like Persephone.

"If only," Dionysus growled, "it were that easy."

**"Oh. Right. Sorry."**

**"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

"That's a little cold..," Aphrodite ventured hesitantly.

"But it's the truth," Chiron sighed, but upon seeing Aphrodite still staring at him intently, he shook his head and gave in, "Okay, okay," he groaned, "after we finish reading these books I'll go to a social lesson."

"Just one?" she raised her eyebrows higher.

"A weeks worth?"

"Better make it a month to be sure that you have the techniques perfected," she smiled happily.

"Fine," Chrion answered, somewhat miserable.

"Oh," she added, "don't forget to bring the Satyr along with you! He seriously needs some lessons too!"

As Apollo continued reading, the centaur sighed tiredly. _It's only a month after all_, he said, trying to cheer himself up, _you can do it: you've been in a lot worse situations that this one!_

**"House call?"**

**"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."**

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

**"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

"Sure," Artemis groaned, "his ego's _definitely _not going to be inflated by this flattering speech you've given, Chiron."

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first.**

Zeus winced, as Chiron cringed again at his own lack of thought.

"Don't say a word," he warned them, as Apollo took the hint and started to read once again.

**We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

"Goody for you," Athena wooped dryly.

"At least," Ares added, "it's better than doing trigonometry!"

"Or geology," Hermes agreed solemnly with him, causing Athena to open her mouth in surprise and anger at the men's negative attitude towards the world she loved.

**"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"Oh, you have no idea what I can do." Dionysus muttered sinisterly, causing Poseidon to look upon him suddenly in concern, "especially when I'm angry."

"You wouldn't dare…" he glowered at the wine god threateningly.

"Sadly not," he replied, looking miserable, "as I wouldn't want to waste my precious energy on a brat like him."

"You…" Poseidon began angrily as Apollo continued reading quickly and loudly.

**"You **_**do **_**know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

"You better will," Dionysus groaned, "as I especially don't want you to waste any more of my precious time by having to explain something else to you."

"Not everything's about you, you know," Hera glared at him. "And another thing," she added, "would you stop agreeing with yourself? I find it's giving me quite a migraine."

**"I'm afraid not," I said.**

"Drat," he cursed sadly, earning a glare from most of the room.

**"I'm afraid not, **_**sir**_**," he said.**

**"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

"Don't worry, Perry," the wine god sighed, "I can quite easily say the same thing about you!"

**"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all **_**civilized **_**young men to know the rules."**

"I'm glad to see that I haven't lost my priorities," Dionysus smiled, despite himself.

"I myself prefer Pong to Pac-Man," Ares murmured silently.

"I find that extremely hard to believe," the wine god observed, "But then again," Dionysus grinned, "You always were an idiot."

"Hey!"

**"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

**"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron, why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

"Because he is _my_ son." Poseidon declared proudly.

"And that detail's supposed to make future-me care more about him why?" Dionysus mocked, raising his eyebrows at the elder god.

"You had better change your attitude soon," he warned him, eyes glowing menacingly, "as I'm not too sure how much more of this negative attitude of yours I can take."

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.**

"What did you do to him," Hades asked, intrigued by the Satyr's behaviour, "t make him so nervous to be around you?"

"I can honestly say that I do not know," Dionysus frowned slightly, before turning it into a smile, "though I cannot wait to find out."

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, **_**I **_**was his star student. He expected **_**me **_**to have the right answer.**

**"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'**

**"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. **

The others simply glared at him.

"What?" he defended himself, "it's true!"

"As camp director," Demeter explained patiently, "it's your duty to look after the children physically as well as their state of mind: where you're ensuring the opposite with your cryptic comments!"

"Sorry," he sighed, "I'm just not good with children."

"Obviously," Artemis rolled her eyes at the absurd remark.

**Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

"Now, who on earth came up with that cheesy idea?" Hera asked in bewilderment, as Chiron raised his hands.

"Why?" Poseidon asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Well," Chiron explained, "would you rather your children learn about their heritage through a well organised and appropriate film, or let 'Mr D' here explain it to them?"

"Good point," they nodded once, then turned their attentions back to the book.

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know-" he pointed to the horn in the shoe box- "that you have killed the Minotaur. **

"Well duh," Zeus sighed, "even the boy knows this, so what's the point of explaining things over again?"

"Just making sure that he understands exactly what is going on around him I'm sure," Hera replied, "so that he won't be tempted to pretend that this world doesn't exist."

"These little things that he's seen," Athena added wisely, "may also help him to believe in the bigger things: such as our existence."

**No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods- the forces you call the Greek gods- are very much alive."**

"Yeah we are!" Ares cheered strongly, as Aphrodite grinned at him slightly.

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, **_**Not! **_**But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

"Do you see what I mean?" Athena prompted softly, but was drowned out by Dionysus happy chanting.

"Yes," he yelled, "I'm winning!"

**"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"**

**"Eh? Oh, all right."**

"That's so generous of you," Hermes swooned mockingly, causing Apollo to laugh.

"We're all so proud of your kindness," Hestia agreed, causing everyone's laughter to cease, not knowing if the girl was joking or not. "It's most becoming of you."

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminium can and chewed it mournfully.**

"Satyrs are weird," Ares muttered darkly, as Hermes and Apollo agreed in unison.

"Is he trying to punish himself?" Apollo questioned, "or is he just that hungry?"

"Satyr's are known to eat almost anything," Hephaestus reminded them, then frowned warily, "and what's wrong with metal?"

"Nothing," Hermes quickly assumingly, "it's just a little too hard for my lovely shiny baby teeth."

"That's okay then," he said, as Apollo began to read once again.

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as god."**

"Oh, boy," Zeus shook his head tiredly, "here we go again."

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God- capital **_**G**_**, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavours: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

A collective, "HEY!" went though the throne room.

"But it is!" Chiron said meekly.

"That doesn't mean we like hearing it," Hades sighed moodily, wrapping his arms around his darling wife. "After all," he added, "we are prideful beings."

"With very large ego's," the centaur added silently.

"What was that?" Poseidon asked, his eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Nothing, my lord."

"Good," he smiled, "now we can read onwards."

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

"I like how he fails to mention his father," Artemis shook her head sadly, "and mentions my brother."

"Ow, twin," she called to her gently, "it's alright, I don't mind at all," he assured her. "It's completely okay for you to be jealous of me."

"In your dreams, brother," she snorted loudly, causing him to laugh even louder.

"Something I do not understand about the above statements," Athena interrupted, "is if you were teaching his class Latin, shouldn't you have been teaching him our Latin names and facts, instead of our Greek ones?"

"That's actually a pretty good point," Apollo admitted, causing a shocked expression to pass over the goddesses face, "but sadly, we don't have any more time to waste to linger on it, as we really must be reading onwards!"

"Hrmph!"

**And there it was again, distant thunder on a cloud less day.**

**"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're- myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"Ouch!" Aphrodite winced, "now he's really done it!"

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. **

"Yeah," Hermes gulped, "he's really mad now."

**"And tell me, Perseus Jackson"**

"Perseus?" Athena repeated, with a slight smile upon her lips. "How…ironic."

"Didn't Sally know," Aphrodite asked Poseidon caringly, "that she could've named him anything- that she didn't have to give him a Greek name for our sakes?"

"She knew," Poseidon smiled at her response, "where I've no doubt that you'll discover later on in the novel why exactly she chose that particular name."

"No wonder he wants to be called Percy?" Demeter sighed, "Perseus _is_ a mouthful."

"Not really," Artemis argued back. "I actually prefer his real name to Percy."

"Same here," Ares agreed. "Percy just sounds so…girly."

"Can we just stop insulting his name now, please," Poseidon started to raise his voice over his siblings, "and just get back to the book?"

**-I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody- **

"I feel your pain," Aphrodite whispered, earning a severe glare from Poseidon. _"Sorry_," she answered him, now a little sarcastically, "I was only trying to be sympathetic."

**"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals- they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come **_**so-o-o **_**far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

Poseidon just glowered at Dionysus, who was smirking despite himself.

"What?" he defended himself, as Poseidon continued to stare at him. "My future self does have a point…"

"Can't you at least try," Hera ordered him, "to be a little more positive and sympathetic towards the boy and to other demigods?"

"Fine," he sighed loudly, as Poseidon relaxed into his seat once again, obviously satisfied with the outcome of events.

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much,**

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hermes assured him, "no one does."

Friendly laughter erupted around the room, as Apollo sent out cheering high-fives.

**but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he wasn't. **

"You know what?" Dionysus fumed, "I'm not even going to bother to comment on that."

"That's the spirit," Hestia smiled at him happily.

"But," Apollo frowned at him, "by stating that you weren't going to comment on it, weren't you actually commenting on it anyway?"

"Whatever!"

"Lol," the sun god grinned happily before reading again. "This reading thing is harder than it looks…now, where was I…, oh yeah…."

**It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that **_**immortal **_**means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning?**

"You wouldn't." they agreed.

"You'd be absolutely peeved," Hephaestus groaned, "like the rest of us are most of the time."

"I agree, however," Athena interrupted them, "we must congratulate him to an extent for making this realisation so quickly: considering his slowness in the past."

"Thanks," Poseidon said at last, not sure whether the comment was an insult or not.

"My pleasure," she grinned widely, before relaxing to allow Apollo to continue.

_An insult_, he sighed heavily. _Will she ever grow up?_

**What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that some day people would call **_**you **_**a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

"Now that wasn't called for," Poseidon glowered at the centaur, as the others silently agreed with him, including Chiron himself. "No matter how he reacts towards us, you had no right to cause him pain like that to make a point."

"I know," he said, "and I'm sorry. I'm probably pushing him so hard to try to get him to accept the world around him for what it truly is."

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

"Ouch," Zeus winced as he glared at Poseidon, "your son is running out of chances, brother."

"Just give him a couple more days for things to sink in firmly," he pleaded, knowing that he had to keep his brothers most of all on his side. "You'll see that all this strife is worth it."

"It better be," he warned him simply.

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

"Incinerate you? Mmmmm, that's actually quite a good-" Dionysus started, then, as he spotted the others glaring at him, he smiled sheepishly and added, "…joke, because I was…just, kidding?"

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

"I'll say it again," Artemis said, "that Satyr might be an idiot, but he's incredibly loyal, and a good friend. Your son made a wise choice in friendship, Uncle."

"Thank you, niece," he smiled warmly at her, thankful of her words.

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe.'"**

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"Dionysus," Zeus warned the god, "you better not…"

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

"Do you really believe I'm that gullible?" Zeus asked his son sceptically.

"I was probably desperate," he sighed in defeated. "I haven't had a drop in years now!"

"You should have thought of that before you acted," Hera shook her head. "Then your father would not have had to punish you, where you would not be in this predicament."

He sighed once more in clear longing, causing the majority of people to roll their eyes at him in amusement.

**"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder.**

"Don't worry," Hermes grinned at the disheartened god, "not long now: only a couple more decades to go."

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

"Mmm," Apollo mused, "I wonder what that would taste like. Spicy maybe? What if-"

"Just carry on reading," Demeter sighed, wishing to get this part of the book over and done with already.

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. **

"_I do not_!" Zeus said, almost hurt. This caused the other Olympians to laugh.

"Oh, you do!" he replied accusingly. "How come you never seem to punish Ares, Athena or Artemis when they do something wrong, but when I put one tiny hair out of line, you're all over me like a tonne of bricks!"

"That's…completely absurd," Zeus said, thought it didn't sound true, even to his own ears.

"That's what I thought," he said smugly.

**The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time- well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away- the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."**

"But," Chiron said boldly, "when are you actually going to try to be a better influence on them?"

"Especially when you can't even talk to them kindly," Demeter snorted at him.

"If you try harder," Hestia encouraged him, "you might actually like it there, or father might decide that you've learnt your lesson and will let you off early."

"I'll think about it," he finally concluded, lost in sudden thought.

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

"Most of your children do," Hera sighed at Zeus, as they all glared at her in surprise, "that's the problem."

**"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."**

"Oh, you really _are_ an idiot." Athena stated, losing her temper even more.

_**"Di immortales, **_**Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. **

"Good grief," Dionysus sighed, holding his head in his hands in sheer frustration. "If the boy can't get it this time, then he deserves to be locked up in a mental ward."

**Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

"I'd be completely mortified," Aphrodite shuddered visibly, staring at the god of wine's pudgy belly, "if that boy ever thought for one second that I was him!"

"I think we all would to be honest," Apollo said, stunned at the horrific image of that possible scene playing over in his mind.

**"You're a god."**

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

"Oh, gods," Athena sighed_, give me the strength needed to deal with this simpleton!_

"Don't worry Percy," Hermes grinned, glancing at Dionysus, "we all wonder the same thing every single day."

"Hey!"

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"Dionysus," Poseidon warned him, his own eyes glowing powerfully towards him.

"Oh relax!" Dionysus rolled his eyes, "I was only trying to show him his place in his worlds: where he really should respect authority figures."

"Believe me," Zeus shook his head, "I truly believe-as he's Poseidon's spawn- he'll never properly respect them."

"I respect you," Poseidon disagreed, "It's your prideful and authoritive manner over me that I find extremely overbearing."

**"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

**"No. No, sir."**

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

"Wow, that's a first." Hades stated.

"I won?" the wine god wondered hopefully, "Yes!"

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

"Drat," he sighed miserably, as Chiron smiled smugly. "Next time you won't be so lucky."

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. **

"Used to it?" Hades grinned, "why, he's never one against him!"

"One day!" he vowed darkly, before conjuring another can of diet coke to drink thirstily.

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, **_**again, **_**about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

"Don't go to hard on him, Dionysus." Demeter pleaded.

"Oh, personally I hope I do," he smiled wickedly, downing the drink in one long swallow. "It sounds much more fun that way."

"You said you were going to be kinder at camp," Artemis reminded him. "Surely you haven't forgotten that already?"

"Hardly," he replied, "where I also recall saying that I'll start after reading these novels."

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

"Poor dear," Persephone sighed, "you must have treated him horribly in the last couple of years."

"Hmm," he agreed, while munching on some cheese puffs.

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. **

"_Very true_." Dionysus agreed, his mouth full, "but I'm still probably a little ticked- I always am."

**He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

**"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

"_URGH!"_

**"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

"Oh, I now sense another tedious explanation coming along." Hephaestus stated glumly.

"Can't we just skip over it?" Ares suggested.

"NO!" Apollo yelled suddenly, looking mortified, "I've already read that part, so I'm not letting you skip ahead when I had to suffer!"

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in **_**America**_**?"**

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."**

**"The what?"**

"Does he know anything?" Athena sighed.

**"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know- or as I hope you know, since you passed my course- the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps- Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on- but the same forces, the same gods."**

**"And then they died."**

"NO!" they yelled in outrage.

"He's in shock," Poseidon desperately defended him, "and it's still all new to him, where I expect all your children asked similar questions when they first arrived, so don't pick on mine just because he's available."

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture.**

**People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Centre, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not- and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either- America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

**It was all too much, especially the fact that **_**I **_**seemed to be included in Chiron's **_**we, **_**as if I were part of some club.**

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"**

"Urgh, I forgot all about that explanation," Hades sighed gloomily.

"Aw," Persephone hugged her husband tightly, "don't look so down. After all, the first book sets the story: where it'll be over before you know it."

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

"Mmmm, so do I," Apollo dribbled dreamily.

"Urgh," Aphrodite squealed in disgust. "Apollo! Either conjure some up or wear a bib!"

"But how am I supposed to read with chocolate in my mouth!" he protested in despair, his eyes reddening.

"Oh," she sighed tiredly, as she suddenly stood and snatched the book off of him, "I'd rather read than see you covered in dribble and tears! Now here," she said, thrusting a huge tub of chocolate marshmallow ice cream at him, "I hope you gain 20 pounds!"

"Mmm," he moaned, eating it with his fingers, "Yummy!"

"Couldn't you wait until I'd given you the spoon?" she demanded, outraged.

"I was starving!"

"Urgh," she sighed, handing him the spoon. "Just eat!"

"Where's mine?" Hermes wondered as she sat back down, giving her his best puppy dog expression.

"Get some yourself from the kitchen later," she dismissed him, trying to find the right page to begin reading. "Ah, here it is!"

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

**I stared at the horse**

"I'm a centaur!" Chiron cried in exasperation.

"Don't bother wasting your energy on him, Chiron," Athena told him childishly, "he's hardly worth it."

"Athena," Poseidon stated, simply and calmly, "sometime in the future, I'm going to have the pleasure of proving you wrong about my son. And on that day, I'm looking forward to your apology."

"I hope the boy lives long enough to earn it," she replied, sounding genuinely earnest about it, which surprised Poseidon even more than her negative attitude.

**who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Aphrodite sighed tiredly. "Phew! All that reading sure does make you tired!"

The group quickly glanced at Apollo, ready for him to make his quick exit, but to their disappointment, he was more interested in scraping the bottom of the ice cream pot for the last spoonfuls of chocolate. "Mmmm," he sighed.

"Apollo," Hades sighed, "weren't you going to show me your plans for what you wanted your new guest room in the Underworld to be like?"

"No," he scoffed, throwing the finished tub of ice cream on the floor, while sinking back into his throne in satisfaction.

"But you said you would," Aphrodite persisted, "right after the last word of the chapter? In particular you wanted to get the entrance right?"

"Entrance?" he asked in confusion.

"Those massive golden double doors?" Persephone prompted him.

"With those beautifully decorated silver ring door handles?" Poseidon stressed, raising his eyebrows high.

"OH YEAH!" he jumped instantly to his feet. "Sorry, dad, I have to leave immediately, as Persephone and Hades wanted to build it this break, so I have to hurry off to get my… plans …for them to have some idea what I actually want them to design."

With that he disappeared into a glorious shine of light and sparkle, leaving the others to sigh in relief.

"I'm not even going to guess what's going on with that boy," Zeus sighed, "but you had all better be back here promptly in an hour."

"Where I trust," Athena added, as Zeus and Hera vanished instantly, glancing knowingly at Hermes, "that there will be no more 'accidents' this break?"

"Oh," Hermes smiled triumphantly, as Athena left the room, "I shouldn't think so…"

_**(A.N. and that's the end of this chapter. Hope you liked it, everything was a bit hectic when I was writing it – stupid time of year **____** - but it should be fine. Hehe, the music theme will continue- mostly probably only briefly at the start of the next chapter, so if any of you guys fancy suggesting any names of songs for characters in reviews that'll be fine. Actually… it'll probably be cool to hear what songs you'd personally give to the characters, including the ones that I've already done, seeing as how we'll probably tend to think a little differently about things. **_

_**Thanks for sticking with me guys – and a special thanks to the ones that have been reviewing: you guys make my day. Have a good weekend now, and I'll probably see you again in about a week/week-and-a-half? Depends on the length of the chapter and the 'Minnie' stories I entwine into them.**_

_**Thanks again,)**_

_**T.T.F.N**_


	9. Simple Toilet Fun!

_**(A.N. Hi guys, I'm finally ready to post the next chapter. It's probably going to be a little shorter than the other chapter because my exams are in full swing now, but I thought you'd appreciate a smaller chapter that I promised than none at all. So for now I'll just do a continuation of the "Minnie" story from the last chapter then launch into the story. Promise then to give you guys a longer chapter in about week and a half –straight after my literature exam. **_

_**Thanks for reviewing guys- it was nice to hear from people. Sadly only four of you fancied to play along and come up with songs of your own to contrast mine – but better than nothing. Really good ideas there though – some of them left me thinking "Oh yeah," and laughing like mad. Your efforts are appreciated XDXD**_

_**So, without further a due, here's your next chapter,**_

_**Enjoy )**_

**Chapter 9 (one more until I hit double digits –yei) = Simple Toilet Fun**

(_Zeus and Hera in the middle of their break walking towards Hera's Palace on Mount Olympus.)_

"What a beautiful atmosphere it is, this day," Hera smiled warmly, holding Zeus' hand tightly in hers, faithfully, "isn't it, darling?"

"It certainly is," he nodded, "especially since those books turned out to be such a lifesaver."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Well," Zeus grinned mischievously, "since we classed the reading of these books as being of the upmost importance, we're free to exert all of our concentration onto it, even if it means leaving our posts for a week or two."

"You mean we do not have to work at all?"

"Do you see Apollo today in his flying car pulling the sun?" he smiled.

"No, but…"

"We've simply got our second in commands taking over for a little while: nothing major. Sometimes we ourselves must step in to solve an urgent issue effectively – like we had done earlier. That way we can focus more on the book," he grinned wickedly, "and on each other."

He suddenly kissed her passionately, leaving her swooning in her arms romantically.

"I'm sick," he whispered, embracing her tightly, while blowing kisses into her hair, "with being stuck in the throne room all day everyday, staring at the same walls all alone (or mostly) desperate for company or action. I know that everyone complains of my mood, but wouldn't you be in the same position as me if the roles were reversed?"

"Probably," she agreed, then sighed, "but that doesn't give you any right to betray me again and again: knowing that I can't and won't do the same thing to you.

"It breaks my heart, darling," she continued, tears of diamonds appearing in her eyes, "and I don't know if I can take it if you do it once more."

"I've apologised countless of times," Zeus sighed sadly, holding her tighter, "I don't know what else I can do to make it up to you."

"Just don't do it again," she whispered, "ever."

"I…"

"You said you needed more company," she added, her voice sounding stronger, "did you mean more company from your family, or … to find new company entirely."

"Both," he said after a moment, frowning at the change of question, "At the moment I'm sick of constantly seeing my family – I see them enough in the throne room, so it w-"

"What if we were in a different scene," she ventured, "no where near the throne room, - somewhere completely new and talking about something completely different than the daily events we discuss in the throne room?"

"I guess that would be nice," he smiled thinly, "But someone must always be in the throne room in case of an attack."

"Then," Hera said, "I'm sure one of the others wouldn't mind covering for you! After all, you've been covering for them all these years."

"Besides," he gave a little grin, "I am the boss."

"You are the boss," she laughed at her husband, "and you are also head of this family- so you're allowed to order them around once in a while without them getting huffy about it.

"Now," she continued, "as well as that, I'm sure we can come up with plenty of interesting suggestions to keep you _entertained_ – whether it's simply a nice day out with your sons, brothers and friends, or," she smiled suggestively slowly walking away from him teasingly to climb the steps to her palace doors, "whether it's time alone, with _me_."

"Which I have enjoyed immensely with you recently," he vowed smilingly, as he made his way forward to stand in front of her, holding her hands in his. "Seriously, the time that I've spent with you recently has been amazing – the communication as well as the sex, "he grinned, "I can't remember the last time I've felt so happy and at peace."

Her grin grew and brightened, where he felt strings pull his heart tenderly: strings that hadn't been active since the early days of his relationship. "I love you," he whispered genuinely to her, causing a tear to run down the side of her face.

"I love you too," she said, before her face lost all expression and grew more serious, "but if you ever betray me again I will leave you. I will leave you and I vow on the River Styx and the Vows of our Marriage that I will not look back."

"Then," Zeus declared, genuinely, full of emotion, "I vow upon the River Styx and upon the Vows of our Marriage that I will never again betray you, as I love you—and I realise that you deserve better."

They stayed like that for a while, before Hera smiled shyly and whispered softly, "then let me take you into my home, so that you may see the changes I have done since you were last here. I truly think you'll discover them to be highly entertaining, particularly towards the bedroom area…"

"I can't wait," he grinned and led them up the rest of the steps, hand in hand, only for him to stop and glare confusedly at the entrance. "Is this one of the changes you were talking about?"

Hera stepped out from behind him, looking to where he was referring to confusedly. "This wasn't here before," she ventured, highly suspicious of the object.

"It looks like a door bell or sorts," he reported, raising his eyebrows high, "I wonder who could have put it there on such a short notice…"

"Apollo," they groaned in unison, shaking their heads at the boy's random mind.

"I wonder what tune it plays," she said, moving forward to press the button.

"Be careful," he warned, pulling her gently to stand behind him. "It's Apollo's invention after all: where you never know what to expect from a character such as him."

"I'm sure he wouldn't do anything to hurt me," she spoke confidently, though she made no move to step around the safety of her husband's body.

"I'm confident he would not hurt you," he smiled grimly, "but I'm not so confident that it's not another one of his dangerous pranks."

He moved cautiously towards the box, where, very slowly, he pushed the button, that was ironically big and red, which had big black bold letters printed firmly onto it yelling "Push me, Push me!"

_Well,_ Zeus sighed, _at least the females turned out to be normal children. Where did I go wrong…?_

Suddenly music started blaring the music.

"Is that…?" Hera asked, raising her eyebrows.

"If I'm not mistaken," Zeus said, listening to a few more lines, "it's Practically Perfect, that's sung in that film,…,M.."

"Mary Poppins," she finished. "Mmm," she pondered on the song choice, "it's true of course, though I never thought Apollo would have admitted it, as he always acts like such a misbehaved teenager: maybe there's hope for him yet! I wonder if he's done this to anyone else?"

Zeus struggled not to laugh at his wife's naivety. "I suggest," he answered her playfully, and confidently as he grabbed her swiftly around the waist and lifted her off her feet and crossed the threshold dramatically, "that we go and find out, _after_ we've had a little time to ourselves."

She gigged loudly all the way up the rest of the stairs…

..

.

**(Next scene is in the throne room, after they've all gathered together once again- where they are in the middle of a discussion about the ringtones.)**

"I still can't believe," Dionysus grumbled sadly, "that you chose that song for me."

"Owww," Hermes mocked him, "did it bring back some memories?"

"You bloody well know it did," he glared evilly at the trio, eyes swiftly turning purple.

"Out of curiosity," Poseidon said innocently, "what was the song you labelled him with."

"Oh," Apollo replied, grinning madly, "just a random song that happened to come into my head at the right time in the right place."

"It was 'Alcohol'," Ares laughed pleasantly at the god, "by the Barenaked Ladies!"

"Why are you in such a happy mood?" Aphrodite wondered, "it's funny, but it's not that funny."

"He's just glad Apollo gave him a fighting song from an old war film," Hephaestus yawned, "though I've never heard of it."

"Old?" Ares said outraged, "it was out two years ago!"

"Anything that was out longer than six months ago is called old: isn't it, darling?" he said, referring to his wife, whilst smiling triumphantly at Ares.

"Absolutely," she agreed, "though, being the icon of fashion, I never wear anything less than a couple of days old of course, unless I'm planning a historical theme. You should really know better, Ares, you're supposed to be the prince of fashion yourself- with me as it's princess. You had better not let me down on the night of the ball!"

"Anyway," Hades interrupted, not able to take much more of this conversation. "Let's just read the next chapter."

"Okay," Zeus agreed. "Now, who wants to…"

"Why don't you," Athena interrupted him swiftly, "read this chapter, then you would have had your turn out of the way and would not have to worry about reading for a while."

"Surrrrre," he agreed, rather dully as his wife smiled at him in encouragment, "why not?"

"The next chapter is called … good grief…" he trailed off, head absorbed in the book.

"Good grief?" Artemis asked sceptically.

"Urh," Zeus amended, "sorry. The next chapter is called '**I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom."**

"Good grief," Athena cursed at another random title. "Can the boy be serious for once in his life?"

"What do you suppose it means?" Hestia wondered. "It must be significant for it to be the title of this chapter."

"With this boy," Demeter commented, "who knows? It could be that he's finally found out about his water abilities, or it could be simple toilet fun!"

Hermes chuckled, despite himself, as Demeter and the women glared at him.

"What?" he answered innocently, "it sounded funny the way you said it…"

"Moving on," Zeus declared loudly.

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse,**

"Centaur!" Chiron groaned softly, _how hard is it to remember that?_

"Aw, Chiron," a very happy looking Persephone grinned sympathetically at him, "don't be too hard at him: this is how he deals with harsh situations – with humour, remember?"

"Is there a reason for your sudden happiness this afternoon, Persephone?" Hera smiled kindly at her, feeling extremely happy and sated herself.

"Ah," she smiled hesitantly, sending nervous looks to her glaring mother, "ah…"

"Yes, dear?" she asked her innocently, but with a hint of steel behind the words.

Hades replied confidently to her, whilst holding his wife's hand in reassurance, "Just the amount of positive time that we've been spending together I suppose: where I actually think that this is the longest we've gone without trying to insult each other."

"It's been wonderful," Persephone said simply, while sending a silent thanks to him, as Zeus rolled his eyes at the women and continued reading.

_At times like these,_ he thought firmly, _I'm actually glad that mother's not around to be so overprotective towards me…_

**We had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

Dionysus snorted with laughter as the centaur turned to glare at him.

"What?" he smirked at him. "Though I can't stand that blasted boy, I must admit that he has a good sense of humour."

"When's it's not directed at you," Artemis muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" he demanded roughly.

"Nothing," she smiled sweetly at him, showing off her little pearly white teeth.

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's **_**him**_**."**

"Very observant," Athena noted, rolling her eyes, silently hoping it wasn't one of her children.

"Ooh," Apollo exclaimed, "I wonder who that was."

"It doesn't say in this instance," Zeus said, skimming the page," though I'm sure we'll hear about them in more detail later on."

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover,**

"Dude," Hermes smiled, "everyone's bigger than Grover."

"Oh," Apollo grinned, "I don't know about that. Artemis here looks just about the same size…"

**all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters.**

"Now," Aphrodite commented, "I finally get why they have to have camp t-shirt's on – so that they get into camp spirit and all that, but why does it have to be orange? It's such a difficult colour to work with: couldn't we change it to light blue? Or maybe a shade of indigo?"

"We have to get the children to stand out against the background," Chiron tried to reason with her, "because, if anything troublesome were to happen, we'd be able to see them instantly.

"Also," he added, sounding a little less enthusiastic, "Dionysus picked the colour."

Everyone turned to look at the wine god, their eyebrows raised a little.

"What?" he said innocently, "I just wanted them to match my tiger skin…"

**I wasn't normally shy,** **but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. **

"Same here," Apollo agreed, "I can't stand people invading my personal space: it makes me a little edgy and paranoid."

"Good to know," Artemis noted, already plotting her revenge against her twin.

**I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

"That'll definitely give them something to watch," Ares nodded his encouragement. "And give you the reputation of a circus dude."

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

"The Oracle," Hephaestus yawned, as Hermes sighed softly, and sadly I remembrance.

"I wonder what she wants with him," Poseidon mused aloud.

"It's a sure sign that he's going to be handed a quest soon," Apollo explained, looking oddly and slightly concerned at his friend/brother sitting beside him.

"**What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smiled faded. "Just the attic."**

"**Somebody lives there?"**

"**No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing." **

"Mmm," Poseidon concluded, "I guess you'd get away with that, as it's not technically a lie, though why would you want to lie to him about something that he'll need to know soon?"

"I'm sure you'd do the same thing if you were in my shoes," Chiron answered him, "seeing as the boy's not quite ready to hear everything just yet."

"As they say," Demeter agreed, "Slow and steady wins the race."

**I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain. **

Athena smiled slightly, despite herself, "I think he's on to you Chiron. He's definitely not as dumb as he made out to be."

"**Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his light-hearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

Poseidon chuckled softly to himself, pleased that people were slowly coming around to his son's different type of intelligence.

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crops for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

"For you, maybe," Dionysus grumbled moodily, "but for me it's a nightmare, seeing as how I'm not allowed to grow any grapes for my blessed wine!"

**He said Mr. D had the effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

He sighed again in utter misery, as the others continued to role their eyes at him.

"It was your own fault," Zeus tried to reason with him. "You were out of control. Now, if you only work harder…"

"Just leave me alone," he sulked, crossing his arms over his chest childishly.

"Fine!" Zeus huffed, and continued reading.

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.**

"He's no where near that skilled," the wine god commented, causing Zeus to smile at him.

"Yet," Hestia added kindly, "he's still young, and has time to improve."

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

"Most probably," Hades said, and Poseidon nodded solemnly.

"**Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean … he was a good protector. Really."**

"He could have been worse," Demeter said, before Dionysus or Zeus could say otherwise. "A lot worse. The important thing that he's alive and well."

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, fining a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

"**But he did that!"**

"Technically," Hermes said helpfully, "Percy brought himself to camp: seeing as the Satyr was unconscious at the time."

"And it wasn't so much as 'safely' but fighting and running in terror," Ares added, earning a glare from his mother.

"At least he tried," she argued, "where I do not think he should be punished for his efforts. However, seeing that this is the second time that he's shown himself to be less than perfect- I say that we should give him more training before we let him go out a third time – for him to be properly prepared for the dangers that he might need to face."

"**I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York.**

"_Technically_," Athena interrupted her father, as Poseidon glared at her, "he ran away."

**Then there's the unfortunate … ah … fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

"I don't doubt he's courageous," Hades said, "just his actual ability to make it a success."

"But," Hestia added sympathetically, "you must admit for his first and second assignments, he didn't exactly have the easiest of jobs, seeing as how the assignments in question were both your children – Zeus, and Poseidon - who had an unusual amount of monsters after them at the time. Knowing how inexperienced and young the Satyr is, I for one am surprised that he managed to do this well: where I think he should be awarded for what he managed to accomplish, and not punished."

The other gods thought about her words for a moment, acknowledging them to be genuine and true.

Zeus sighed inwardly once, in sudden memory of his daughter, whereupon Hera instantly moved to sooth him subtly. Taking a few moments to compose himself, he read slowly onwards.

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble. **

"Well," Hera said, "no point crying over spilt milk – what's done is done."

"**He'll get a second chance, won't he?" **

"Considering that was his second chance… I doubt it." Chiron sighed quietly.

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that **_**was**_** Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago.**

Zeus grimace once again. _Out of everyone in that group_, he thought sadly, _why did the person who suffered most have to be my daughter?_

_Because, my love_, Hera comforted him mentally through the psychic link of their marriage, _out of everyone in the group, she was the bravest and strongest: just like you._

**Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age…" **

"**How old is he?"**

"**Oh, twenty-eight."**

"Ha ha," Ares chuckled, lightening the mood, "I bet that comes as a shock to the boy."

"**What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

"Told you." Ares said smirking.

"Please," Athena shook her head, "even our darling Apollo saw that coming, and he's an imbecile."

Apollo just smiled at her, as it was perfectly obvious that she hadn't checked the gift he'd given her that last break.

"**Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

"That sucks." Hermes said, "imagine having to re-do all those exams over and over again."

Hephaestus and Aphrodite shuddered visibly.

"**That's horrible."**

"**Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…" **

"**That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

"I think we should just read quickly on here," Persephone suggested, "to try to save some future arguments."

Zeus glared at her as he moved darkly onwards.

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"I'm liking your thinking," Hermes smiled nervously, as Apollo nodded in encouragement.

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. **

Poseidon groaned instantly, as if he was in pain, increasing the tension around the room.

**Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word **_**death**_**. The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind. **

"Wow," Aphrodite said, deflating some of the collected tension, "he is perspective, isn't he?"

"Perceptive," Athena smiled, more warmly than before.

"**Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real …"**

"**Yes, child?"**

"**Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?" **

"A brave notion child," Athena admitted, "but a foolish one, considering your age and lack of experience."

"Uh-what?" Apollo asked in confusion.

Poseidon sighed, not knowing whether he should support Percy's thoughts to rescue his mother, or not, seeing as how the task itself is set to be almost impossible.

"Percy wants to rescue his mother from the Underworld," Athena rolled her eyes at him.

"But that's suicidal!" Apollo gasped in understanding, making Poseidon feel slightly worse.

"Almost," Athena amended, "where I'm sure Chiron now will instantly deflect any such notion."

**Chiron's expression darkened. **

"**Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now … until we know more … I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"Um," Hermes winced, "that wasn't the 'definite no' answer we were looking for."

"And by saying to 'put it out of your mind'," Apollo added, "it actually keeps it stuck in your mind."

"How do you come to that assessment?" Artemis wondered.

"It's stuck in my mind," he shrugged, as Zeus continued to read on.

"**What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

"You see what I mean?"

"**Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

"Ha ha," Hermes laughed, "good one Chiron. When in doubt change the subject in hope that the issue will go away."

"And knowing that Percy gets easily distracted," Athena added, "it most probably will: for an hour or two at least."

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans. **

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

"**Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?" **

"**You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

"Um, …what?" Persephone said helpfully.

"Chiron," Zeus said exasperated, "why would he have a sword and shield?"

"You never know," Hermes ventured, "he might secretly belong to a medieval after school club that role play every Friday night in the woods."

"Okay…."

"**My own—?"**

"**No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armoury later." **

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camps had an armoury,**

"Oh, only the best," Ares bragged humorously.

"After defeating two monsters," Hades shook his head in wonder, "I still can't believe he hasn't caught on about what's going on around him."

**But there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheatre, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

"Please can we watch the fights?" Ares begged.

"I think in a couple more chapters," Hera said, "that we'd all be sick of fights."

"Never!" he gasped, surprised his mother would say such a thing.

"**Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

"What else?" Hephaestus grinned.

"**Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

"Good move changing the topic," Hermes said grimly, "seeing as you were going to scare him again."

"I don't do it on purpose," he sighed, "I'm just trying to be truthful."

"Well," Hermes amended, "just be truthful in a way that doesn't send him running to the hills from now on."

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

"**What do you do when it rains?**

"Why would he be worried about rain?" Apollo asked confused.

"For the simple reason that he has no clue that we control the weather here to some extent," Hera answered him honestly.

**Chiron looked at me as I'd gone a little weird.**

"Men," Artemis shook her head in frustration, "can't do anything with them."

More than half the rooms occupancy glowered at the insult in sudden anger.

"What?" Demeter said, "it's true!"

"You'll pay for that," Ares warned her, before Zeus decided it was time to continue the chapter.

"**We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

"Good for you, Percy," Athena applauded him, "otherwise we'd have been there here all night."

"Ouch," Aphrodite grinned, as she shared a very rare high five with the younger family member. "Good one!"

"I try," she smiled widely, clearly pleased with herself.

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

"They're not bizarre," Apollo protested, "they're wicked!"

"Ares cabin is the best by far!" Ares hollered loudly, causing everyone to put their hands over their ears.

"I personally think it's my cabin that's superior," Aphrodite gushed, "as you can clearly see that the colours run together in a simply harmonious fashion: where it also compliments the furnished…"

"Well," Hades interrupted glumly, "seeing as Persephone, Hestia nor I have a cabin, I suggest we continue reading."

As Zeus was about to continue, Hera spoke up, "that is slightly unfair," she agreed softly, "seeing as the rest of us have one – if only out of respect."

"Then what do you suggest, dearest?" Zeus looked at her, slightly bewildered she was speaking in favour of his brother.

"That we should consider changing that tradition," she said loudly, "as it's unfair, and it wouldn't hurt anyone."

"But if we give these mentioned here thrones and a cabin in the camp, the other minor gods will start a riot!"

"It is definitely something we need to discuss further though," Demeter stresses, trying to help her daughter and her sister get what they deserve, "if only for those that are 'major'."

"Fine," Zeus grumbled, "it will be added to the list of things we need to discuss when we finish reading the novels."

"Thank you, honey," Hera smiled beautifully at him, causing him to grin in return.

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. **

"Hah," Hephaestus smirked happily, "mine is mentioned first: which proves it is the most noticeable!"

"You know," Ares looked up his nose at him, "that doesn't necessarily mean that's a good thing."

"True," Athena nodded once, before Zeus continued.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.**

"Ah," Demeter sighed warmly, "it still has it's wonderful homely atmosphere!"

"Well, why wouldn't it?" Poseidon asked in confusion, "it's only a handful of years into the future, not a handful of centuries."

"You never know with these type of things," she said simply, leaving Poseidon and the rest to stare bewilderedly at her.

"Okay…"

**Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.**

"That's because it's so awesome!" Apollo rolled his eyes dismissively, "you're not a son of mine, therefore you cannot appreciate the structure properly – but I forgive you."

"But he hasn't done anything wrong," Poseidon stated, getting more confused by the moment with his family's comments.

"But I forgive him anyway."

**They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

"That's a little random, isn't it?" Athena wondered.

"What is?" Hades said, still appearing moody, but interested to hear these little details of camp life.

_If only my children were allowed to come here, _he sighed. _It'll be so comforting to know that they're safe and away from harm…_

"Basketball next in the midst of our figures and symbols," she made a face of dislike, "I just don't understand."

"That's because you don't like the game," Hermes replied, "whereas I personally love the idea, as it has two of my most favourite things bunched together nicely."

"Hrmph!"

**In the centre of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smouldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

"It's rare for a new demigod – or an old one for that matter- to see me," Hestia whispered, "I hope this is a positive omen."

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-her mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve.**

"As it should be," Zeus stated simply, as his brothers rolled his eyes at the size of his ego.

**Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.**

**Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

"**Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

"Who else?" Zeus snorted and Hera smiled proudly at their cabins: a perfect pair.

"**Correct," Chiron said.**

"**Their cabins look empty." **

"That's because they are," Hera smiled further.

_And from now on,_ she smiled confidently, _they'll stay that way._

"**Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.**

"I guess you could put it that way…" Chiron said.

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

Athena opened her mouth to explain, but Poseidon rudely shushed her, "We know!"

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

"Mine." Poseidon said smiling at the mention of it. _I hope he likes it…_

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway.**

And Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"

"Don't worry," Apollo said, rolling his eyes, "he's totally safe."

"But I wouldn't know that," Chiron argued. "I'd be too scared that he'd be hurt or worse for his mistake."

"We're not that bad," Ares said, though the other gods dropped their heads in sudden thought.

"I guess we're a little hard on that sort of thing," Athena admitted, "where I really wouldn't want to punish someone just for simple ignorance."

"It's simply another thing we must discuss," Zeus said, before reading on.

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore of Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

Poseidon was at a loss what to think.

"Couldn't you have left him there?" Apollo said glumly, though he already knew the answer. "After all, that's where he's supposed to be."

"Yes, but how was I to know that," Chiron said, "especially when he hasn't been claimed yet!"

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the colour had been splashed on with buckets and fists.**

"Mmm, and I love it!" Ares gloated proudly, as Poseidon rolled his eyes at his outburst.

**The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and it's eyes seemed to follow me.**

**Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. **

Hermes and Apollo snickered quietly at the description, as Ares continued to sit there in his wilful ignorance.

**She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

"Woo!" cheered Ares suddenly, "I think that's Clarisse! Look how much she's grown!"

"I think we get the picture," Aphrodite snickered quietly as Artemis shook her at the entire scene.

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

"**No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

"Which is just too bad," Dionysus grumbled sourly. "At least they know how to throw a good party!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Chiron said strongly and firmly.

"Why? I was aiming the comment at you and your dull and tedious lifestyle."

"**You said your name was Chiron. Are you really …"**

"Seriously?" they groaned at the boy's ignorance, apart from Poseidon, who rolled his eyes at his family's impatience.

**He smiled down at me. "**_**The**_** Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

"**But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about **_**should **_**be. The truth is, I **_**can't **_**be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish … and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

"And you'll always be needed," Hestia assured him, "so I'm afraid that you will always be stuck with us."

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list. **

"It wouldn't have made my top thousand to be honest," Apollo admitted happily.

"Nor mine," Hermes agreed, "probably due to the fact that I hate all forms of learning!"

"I think he made a very sensible choice…" Athena started, but was interrupted by Dionysus.

"Geez, sis," he groaned, "it's meant to be a wish not a career opportunity."

"Whatever."

"**Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

"**No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

"**Why depressing?"**

"Wouldn't you like to know," Chiron shook his head, as if saddened by some memory.

"Well, because he's asking you, I think he would," Ares whispered to him helpfully.

"Leave it alone brother," Artemis snapped suddenly at him, "don't you understand this is a serious situation?"

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

"I just don't want to think about it." Chiron said glumly, still lost in thought.

"**Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

Athena's mood increased suddenly at the bare mention of her daughter.

**The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.**

"That would be mine," Hermes stated simply.

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled. **

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. **

"That's because it _is _Greek." Athena said, still smiling at her daughter's cold greeting.

**There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

"**Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

"**Yes, sir."**

"Don't say a word," Athena warned Aphrodite, who was making kissy-faces to her from where she sat.

"Ha ha," she laughed, "I will if you just accept the inevitable!"

"Nothing is inevitable."

"**Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

Hermes moaned silently, shaking his head in frustration. _Not another one!_

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on **_**old**_**. **

Hermes sighed again and said, "Yeah, I probably need to make some adjustments to it, especially seeing as how it's getting to be extremely over crowded."

**The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was on of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it… ?**

"A caduceus." Hermes suggested helpfully.

**A caduceus.**

"Well, he's not that unintelligent," Athena said grudgingly as Poseidon smiled widely.

"I wonder what kind of first impression your children will make, Hermes," Demeter said.

"There'll more likely to steal something or other," Hephaestus glared at Hermes, obviously still peeved at some past prank or theft, "just like their father."

"Let's hope," Hermes said, oddly quiet, as Zeus read on.

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds.**

"Hermes," Ares whistled at him, "you have been busy!"

Meanwhile, Hestia frowned slightly. "If there aren't enough bunk beds, then where do they sleep?"

**Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor.**

"Aah," Hestia nodded, her suspicions proving to be correct.

"Hermes," Aphrodite tutted towards him, "you really should take better care of your cabin and your children."

"You might need to think about building another level or two to it," Demeter nodded in agreement, "as maturing children need a lot more room than what they've got at a moment to mature and grow."

"With plenty of places to stash their make up and hang up their clothes to stop them getting too crinkled," Aphrodite added, as Hermes glared in outrage at the other gods, where Athena and Hera shook their heads at their ignorance.

**It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation centre.**

Hermes lost it, "That's it!" he stated, "I'm tired of having to take in all your children all the time! I mean," he fumed, "one or two was fine, but now there's more of your kids in my cabin than there is of mine! So you really need to either stop having so many children, or at the very least claim them so that they can be in their own cabin and feel better knowing who they are!"

The other gods had the dignity to look ashamed.

"I didn't think it would be this bad," Ares apologised – as best as he was able to-, as Demeter nodded her head slowly.

"You really didn't need to do that," Demeter mumbled softly, feeling guilty, but Hermes turned towards her angrily.

"Well, without you claiming them, where did you think they were going to go?" he said softly, refusing to say any more: no longer trusting himself to remain calm about the situation.

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully. **

"They're better behaved than I thought they would be," Athena commented, trying to move away from the negative situation, though no one heard her or bothered to comment back in return.

_Fine_, she huffed, a little irritably.

"**Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. **

"Getting a bit cocky, isn't he?" Apollo whispered to Hermes, grinning shakily in the attempt to try to cheer up his friend.

Hermes smiled grudgingly, although it looked more forced than anything. Seeing this, Zeus moved quickly on: not wanting the moment to appear too awkward.

**They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

"Don't we know," Apollo tried again, only to have the same reaction.

_I guess I'll have to try harder…_

"**Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

"Just throw him to the sharks why don't you!" Ares said, as Hermes smiled, looking a little less strained this time.

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.**

"Naturally," he agreed with the boy, chuckling quietly to himself, as Apollo – who was still staring intensely at his friend relaxed a little.

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything. **

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

"**Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked. **

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined." **

**Everybody groaned.**

Hermes went back to glaring at them all again.

"Okay, okay," Zeus sighed, holding his hands up at his frustrated son. "After we finish the novel this will be one of the first things we'll move to resolve. My oath on the matter."

"It wouldn't need to be resolved," he sighed, "if you'd just claim your children like you're supposed to."

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.**

"**Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

"Spot?" Artemis repeated, shuddering a little as she intensely disliked enclosed and small spaces and much preferred the open fields and forests.

"Poor children," Persephone sighed, glancing at her husband, "I wouldn't want _our_ children to be treated like that."

"WHAT?" Demeter gasped in astonishment, capturing the sudden attention of the whole room.

"Oh," Persephone stuttered, knowing how misleading her sentence sounded, "I didn't mean…that is…"

"She's not pregnant, sister," Hades sighed, as if he was saddened by that thought – which enraged Demeter even more. "She was just considering these things for the children that we hope to have in the future."

"But," Hephaestus narrowed his eyes, "didn't you swear an oath not to have any more children?"

"With other humans," Hades nodded, "yes I did. But I swore nothing about not being able to impregnate my wife: nor did the others."

"Aah," he sighed in understanding, as Persephone blushed, in what was probably embarrassment of having these details in her life shouted out and discussed.

"Is that okay with you, sister?" Hades grinned devilishly at Demeter: making sure his wife didn't see it of course, as her cheeks once again flushed in anger.

"Perfectly," she replied, her voice sounding an octave or two louder than usual.

_If you touch her…_

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-coloured clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

"Luke." Hermes said, beaming instantly at the very mention of him: before remembering once again the various warnings he'd received, where his smile instantly vanished.

_If it could have been anyone else_, he sighed miserably, then paused in thought. _If we can somehow change Percy's destiny, couldn't I choose to do the same thing with Luke's_? He sighed, though he looked and felt a lot brighter, _if only we could just convince enough people that visitation with out children won't turn out to be so negative as they feared_…

"**This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.**

"Aw!" Aphrodite exclaimed immediately, as Athena smiled in relief and hope, "it looks like there's a spark between these two here!"

_Yes_, Athena grinned, _now, if only she could just forget_…

"But," the love goddess paused, "I was certain that I felt the beginning of a powerful love pass through her and Percy! I…"

"Perhaps you were mistaken," Athena suggested innocently, as Aphrodite's eyes flashed suddenly a violent and luminous pink.

"I am never wrong," she glowered. "In these type of matters anyway. Annabeth is definitely destined to fall helplessly in love with one of these people, where she will more likely break the other's heart. I wonder who she'll choose…"

"Luke!" Athena interrupted, not able to stop herself.

"Percy!" Poseidon countered her, as although he wasn't best pleased with his son being with his rival's daughter, his happiness and welfare mattered more than anything.

"Well," Apollo commented to a slightly bewildered Hermes, who had missed most of the conversation as he was lost in thoughts of the past, "I think things have suddenly got a lot more interesting."

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counsellor, for now."**

"**For now?" I asked.**

"**You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers."**

"And I'm absolutely willing to take anybody under my wing," he agreed with his son, "but sometimes there are just too many travellers and not enough _friendly_ and _welcoming_ _inns_," he cocked his eyes at the other gods, making his hint obvious, where Zeus decided to ignore him.

"Later," he dismissed him, reading on.

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves. **

Hermes smiled mischievously, his mood lightening suddenly. Seeing this, Apollo and Ares decided to better it further.

"I bet," he whispered across Hermes to a waiting Ares, "that it'll be gone by morning."

"Morning!" Ares scoffed at the thought, "more like an hour!"

"Guys," Hermes grinned, whilst rolling his eyes at their antics, "enough! I'm fine!"

"Yei!"

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"Ah, my children." Hermes smiled proudly at them, then made a face. "Except for the sullen ones," he added, "they must belong to you, Athena."

"Owned!" Apollo laughed, slamming his friend into a high five, "I missed you, buddy!"

"I haven't been anywhere," he answered, sounding amused, "though I won't turn down a free high five."

"Free?" Ares rolled his eyes, "since when have we been a charity?"

"Yeah," Apollo grinned playfully, "you earned it."

"I…" Hermes was about to say when Artemis swiftly interrupted him.

"Can we just carry on with the book now, please?" she begged. "I can't stand listening to your male bonding a moment longer!"

"_Well_…" the trio said in unison, then burst out laughing as Zeus continued on regardless.

"**How long will I be here?" I asked.**

"**Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

"**How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

The gods all frowned, Zeus most of all.

_Do these children really have such little faith in us?_ He wondered, then winced at the answer his wife provided through their bond.

_What have you given them, my darling, to make them think otherwise? You are not to visit them or have hardly any interference in their lives. You barely even claim them, or answer them when they plead for help, recognition or even just for comfort. _

_We have much work to do to set things right, haven't we darling_, he sighed sadly.

_We do indeed_, she nodded empathetically, but I have faith in you: always have, always will.

Thank you, he smiled, as he re-discovered the page he was on in the novel and started to read.

_Your welcome…_

"**Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

"**I've already seen it."**

Artemis snickered silently, as Aphrodite looked astonished.

"She was hitting on you," she wailed, "and you blow it!"

"Please," Athena scoffed, "she's just attempting to remove him from a situation that's becoming more awkward by the minute. –She always was a kind girl."

"Yeah," Poseidon said, "_kind_. I'd love to discover how she's like when she's not."

"**Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

"Kind!"

"Not!"

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

"Better than what?" Ares asked, slightly bewildered.

"**What?"**

"Exactly," Ares said, as Artemis rolled her eyes at his ignorance, "the boy doesn't get it either."

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

"The _one_, huh?" Apollo said raising his eyebrows suggestively, as Athena glared at him in sudden hatred.

"Not only is that comment unneeded and absurd," she lectured him firmly, "but that statement is highly important in discovering what is going on."

"In what way?" Hades asked generally.

"Well," she answered, slightly confused by his statement, "it's obvious from past discussions that my daughter heard something that she wasn't meant to about the upcoming danger that's threatening us, where this statement could also give us another clue. For example, what is 'the one' she speaks of? He's obviously at the heart of the matter. I believe…"

"Let's just read on," Hera suggested, positive that she had nothing further to add, where she was about to argue further about his and her daughter's situation.

"**What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"**

"**Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

"**To get killed?"**

"Not quite," Chiron said, while Dionysus scoffed at the comment.

"Yes, quite," he muttered, wishing for the millionth time he could have some alcohol to dull his system, "that's how it mostly ends: in a sad and gruesome death."

"To go out in a blaze of glory is one's greatest honour," Ares said seriously, earning raised eyebrows from the majority of the room.

"**To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

"Just don't say the circus?" Artemis warned a surprised Apollo, who's mouth wasalready opening to comment on the scene.

"I wasn't going to," he said, sounding a little hurt.

"I believe you," she said innocently, whilst he glared at her.

"Evil," he chided her, before Zeus continued hastily onwards.

"This reading is more work than it looks," he murmured, trying to find the right section. "It really makes you feel empathetic to the demigods who decided to write these…ah- here it is..."

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was **_**the **_**Minotaur, the same one in the stories …"**

"**Yes."**

"**Then there's only one."**

"**Yes."**

"Urgh, here we go," Dionysus sighed, as Poseidon laughed at his discomfort, "another boring explanation."

"They're not that boring," Poseidon argued trying to appear reasonable.

"They are," Hades agreed with the wine god, "you just don't find them so bad as it's your son who's telling them."

"Yeah," Aphrodite sighed, "you really should feel sorry for us."

"Guys," Athena sighed, attempting to stand up for Percy,- and most importantly for her son who's name was printed proudly on the cover, "although I also find these explanations highly tedious, we must remember that this child knows next to nothing of our world, therefore they are necessary to ensure his survival."

"**And he died, like, a gazillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So …"**

"See," he pointed out further-to the surprise of Poseidon, "the boy knows the basic myths: he just needs a little help with the different theories and how to connect them firmly to our world."

"**Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"And that fact definitely suck," Apollo sighed, thinking of how the many people he cared about had ended up dead by these wicked beasts.

"If we can't kill them," Hermes said tiredly, "couldn't we just trap them in a sort of monster jail in the underworld?"

"Firstly," Hades said, "I'm in the middle of redecorating. Secondly, I know my kingdom is vast, but I simply do not have the room to store such a number of creatures. Thirdly, I do keep the worst of the monsters locked away in some of my deepest dungeons: where I guess it couldn't hurt to add one or two more… Fourthly, some of the monsters have settled down nicely here on earth and are very rarely a danger to anyone Fifthly, if I do lock them all away, it would give them all a common goal, where they would unite together and deliver tenfold the amount of damage that they would ever do now.. And lastly…it'll cost too much…"

Poseidon guffawed loudly at that. "Ha ha, I was wondering how long it'll take you to mention the money problems: you cheapskate!"

"**Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

"Don't you just love his sense of humour?" Hermes grinned.

"The boy is just awesome," Apollo agreed.

"I'd just wish he'd fight some more," Ares sighed, as the other two turned to glare at him.

"What?"

"**They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them arche types. Eventually, they reform."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"**

"Accidentally?" Dionysus raised an eyebrow high, "Really?"

"Yeah," Apollo grinned, as Chiron and Artemis shook their heads, "you just _dropped_ it through her didn't you – just like your hand _slipped_ when you _accidentally _pushed the button in Sea world."

"You're mean," Hestia chided them sternly, as they all burst out laughing simultaneously.

"**The Fur … I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

"Well who wouldn't?" Hephaestus scoffed at the obvious statement. "After all he did slice her with a sword."

"**How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?" **

"**You talk in your sleep."**

"Ha ha," Ares grinned, "LoL."

"That's sweet," Persephone cooed, as Aphrodite giggled.

"To each her own," Artemis sighed at them tiredly.

_When will they ever grow up?..._

"**You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

"They sure are," Demeter answered seriously.

"I know it was future you that sent them after my son," Poseidon said calmly, though his eyes were murderous, "but out of all your servants and supporters, why did you choose to send _them _after him?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Zeus looked thoughtful, "especially since those were one of the few monsters that you _didn't_ send after my daughter."

"Well then," Athena said reasonably, "that answers one question."

"And what's that?" they asked, in confusion, as she sighed once, before going on to explain.

"When he found out about Thalia," she said, "he was most probably very shocked, outraged and angry, where he sent any monster he saw after her without thinking things through clearly: he simply wanted father to suffer for his mistake and take vengeance. Now, his attack on Percy was nothing like this, it was calculated and planned out."

"He simply learnt from his mistake," Zeus continued to frown at his brother, "or that he found out in advance and decided to go after him more effectively."

"I don't think that's the reason," Athena stressed, "as it was too thought out."

"Then what t do you suppose the reason is?" Poseidon asked, still eyeing his brother, who by now was holding up his arms in a sign of peace.

"The fact that Zeus and Hades want to kill him, the lightning bolt is missing, Zeus and Poseidon are arguing where there's a deadline of sorts for the summer solstice and that he seems to be 'the one' all point to one thing…"

"That we think that the boy has the lightning bolt," Hades finished, as his brothers' eyebrows were raised high.

"But," Zeus said in bewilderment, "what would make us think that?"

"If you didn't know the boy, where you find out your lightning bolt has been stolen and that Poseidon's been hiding a forbidden son in New York – where the lightning bolt is known to be – wouldn't you automatically think the boy stole it?"

"He would," Hera nodded solemnly, "especially as in these matters he becomes the 'smite now, reason later' kind of man."

"I guess it's just one more thing that needs to be changed," Hades added meekly, before relaxing slowly into his seat, "where we really must discover if the person is guilty of what we accuse them of before punishing them."

"Amen," Chiron muttered softly to himself, as Hestia smiled warmly at him, where Zeus carried on reading.

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.**

"She's onto your tricks, Uncle," Apollo whispered playfully, as Hades expression cheered at the reminder.

"**You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

"**Look, is there anything we **_**can**_** say without it thundering?" **

"Nope," they all said unanimously, as Zeus stopped reading and glowered at them all.

**I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

"Why do we have to have this conversation again?" Demeter groaned.

"Because there's some things that they've left out," Athena answered, "such as the real reason why they're all here."

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy.**

"Though that would be cool," Hermes grinned. "We should get them to do that sometime: where we tell them to choose any cabin they want to be in for the weekend, to see which one is the best."

"Where I'll totally win," Apollo gloated, while eating yet another super fattening ice double chocolate cake with sprinkles.

"Please," Hephaestus scoffed, "they can't even see yours!"

"Boys!" Hera sighed, "that's enough now!"

"Sorry."

**It depends on who your parents are. Or … your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"It's going to take a lot more than that, sweatheart," Athena sighed.

Poseidon nodded in agreement. "Eaxcatly: that was a rubbish hint!"

"It was not!" Athena retaliated, "it couldn't be more obvious!"

"ENOUGH!"

"Sorry, Hera," she chanted, as Poseidon smirked at his rival's takedown.

_This is not the end of it,_ she warned him, glaring the promise to him with her eyes.

He just grinned widely and winked at her: _Bring it on!_

"**My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

Poseidon sobered quickly at that, before he let himself relax once more.

_It's not the end,_ he whispered to his son. _Never stop believing. _

"**I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

"**He's dead. I never knew him."**

The other's winced at the boy's statement.

"This might be a little tricky," Persephone gulped.

"Understatement," Aphrodite rolled her eyes at the younger goddess.

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.**

"Therefore it doesn't technically mean she's more intelligent than him," Apollo said to Athena, "just more experienced."

"**Your father's not dead, Percy."**

"**How can you say that? You know him?"**

Dionysus slapped himself on his forehead violently.

"What was that for?" Chiron wondered, looking at the god slightly confused.

"I think I'm ill," the god muttered, mostly to himself, " after all these horrid and tedious explanations I'm starting to miss life at camp!"

Chiron rolled his eyes at the god's whininess. "Grow up."

"What was that?" Dionysus glanced evilly at the centaur.

"Nothing," Chiron answered, equally swift, "I was just telling you that you needed to cheer up."

"That's what I thought you said," he glowered, keeping a wary eye on the centaur/jailer.

"**No, of course not."**

"**Then how can you say—"**

"Wouldn't it be easier for her to just tell her?" Apollo wondered.

"It probably would," Poseidon agreed, "but she's trying to break it to him gently: and I'll admit," he grinned at the situation, "he's not making it any easier for her."

"**Because I know **_**you**_**. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

"**You don't know anything about me."**

"Ouch," Poseidon continued to chuckle at the scene. "That was a bit harsh."

"You two really can't stand authority figures, can you?" Artemis grinned.

"She's not an authority figure though," Ares pointed out.

"She might as well be," Artemis replied, "seeing as how she has more experience and seniority over him, where she's also been put in charge of showing him around."

"She's also being very unnerving her too," Poseidon agreed.

"Poseidon," Athena started, but Poseidon interrupted her.

"I don't mean that negatively," he assured her – though he wasn't sure exactly why, "I'm just stating that she's going about explaining these things to my son in the wrong way. She'll learn it though, soon enough," he grinned once again, "though it would be fun to see how long it'll take her to discover that it's best to go straight to the point with him, rather than long and gently."

"**No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

"**How—"**

"**Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

"Sadly, a lot," Athena said, feeling sorry that her children had such a harsh learning disability.

_Ah well, she consoled herself, it's not like English is the most spoken language in the world_…

"**Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battle field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

"She's as good as you at explaining things," Hermes said to Athena.

"I do hope that's a compliment," Athena told him slowly, aware of the god's opinion of her.

"It is," Hermes said, earning a smile from Athena, "but it still doesn't mean that I like hearing the explanations too often, as I'm more of a trial and error person myself."

"**You sound like … you went through the same thing?"**

"Most of them did," Demeter commented simply, as Zeus read swiftly onwards.

"**Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

"**Ambrosia and nectar."**

"Yep," Apollo grinned, "the best thing you'll ever taste."

"Mmm," Aphrodite grinned, "I can do with some right now actually."

"Here you go," Hephaestus said, handing her a glorious wine glass full of nectar. As he conjured one for himself, he banged their glasses together.

"Cheers."

"**The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us.**

"Hey!" Ares yelled, looking hurt by the comment, and more than slightly angry, "my cabin's not ugly! It's cool and original!"

"Uh-oh," Hermes called, "here comes your Clarisse to say 'hi.'"

"Although I kinda like the kid," Ares frowned, "he deserves to be pulverised for hisinsult."

**She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

"She's not ugly!" Ares shouted in outrage. "She's a suberb fighter and I hope she teaches you a lesson right here, right now!"

"Umm," Hestia hesitated as Poseidon glared at him, "don't you think you're over exaggerating just a little?"

"NEVER!"

"Okay…"

"**Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

"**Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

"I do love a good game of Capture the Flag." Chiron stated.

" Chiron," Demeter frowned at him, "as their teacher, shouldn't you be against this display of violence towards each other?"

"It's all friendly competion," he answered her, "besides," he added, "I can't forid this kind of behaviour, as it is displayed daily by most of the camp, where they learn it from your various confrontations with each other."

"Good point."

"_**Erre es korakas!**_**" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded.**

Artemis grinned, "It does seem rather peculiar when you hear it, doesn't it?"

"**You don't stand a chance."**

"**We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat.**

"I don't care what you guys say, "Ares said as everyone turned to look at him, their expressions were bemused, "that wasn't a sign of weakness, but an actual medical problem…"

"Righhhhht," Athena smiled, proud that her daughter was portraying herself to be stronger and victorious.

**She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

"Who's she calling runt?" Poseidon raised an eyebrow at Ares.

"Compared to my daughter, he is," he smiled superiorly.

"**Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like … the war god?"**

"No," Apollo said, "that's the other Ares."

"Yeah," Hermes agreed, "this Ares is the God of Hippies."

"I'd rather be tortured in Tartarus for the rest of my life," Ares stated seriously, "than be the God of Hippies."

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

"**No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

"Ouch," they winced.

"One nil to Percy," Apollo commented, conjuring a commentator's mike in his hands.

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

"Nice comeback," Hermes retaliated, also conjuring a mike, "One all."

"Children," Hera said, struggling to hang on to her patience, "Put those mikes away this instant. Not only do we not need them but I don't want anyone to display this kind of behaviour towards each other, and especially not towards each others children."

"No more point scoring," they chanted in unison, as Hera wore a very satisfied smile.

"Very good," she applauded before turning to her husband, "now you may continue reading."

"**Percy."**

"**Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

"**Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.**

"**Stay out of it, wise girl."**

"How I do hate to see displays of family violence," Hestia sighed, as Dionysus shook his head at her.

"I thought you'd gotten used to it by now," he smirked, "after all, that's how this family mostly communicates and gets along with one another."

"I still think it's wrong," she whispered, though no one was listening, as they were much too absorbed in the upcoming fight.

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

"That's right son." Poseidon said, smiling proudly, where even Ares – as riled up as he was with the thought of action – admired him for this action.

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

"Hah!" Ares cheered, "she's going to flush him!"

"I wouldn't be too sure," Poseidon smiled, mostly knowing what would be coming next.

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron.**

**She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. **

"Which is very humiliating in itself," Apollo shuddered, as Ares and Poseidon just smiled, equality confident in their own child's ability.

**There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I **_**could**_** think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

"I cannot believe the boy still can't concentrate wholly on the problem at hand," Athena sighed in frustration.

"Who cares?" Aphrodite smiled, "win or lose you just have to love that boy for pointing out that detail: as it's very true." She turned her head firmly towards Zeus, "I believe that we should make this a top priority also when we finish reading the novels," she declared.

Zeus and the rest of the Olympians continued to stare at her in disbelief. "You mean," Zeus said, "you think we should class the discussion of changing the bathroom layouts in the camp as a top priority?"

"After we finish the book of course," she smiled at him, "as they are very unfashionable and unhygienic."

Zeus turned his head in hesitation towards his wife, still in shock over her words.

_Just read on, darling,_ she advised him. _It'll cause less commotion that way._

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

"That's probably because he was angry and it was raining," Hephaestus stated, as Poseidon's smiled widened.

Athena, catching this action, let out an exclamation of understanding. Looking back at Poseidon, she saw him put a finger to his lips – most probably not wanting to ruin the good surprise.

"**Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

Ares laughed, but everyone else just rolled their eyes, knowing that any minute that she was probably going to eat her words.

**Her friends snickered.**

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

_Don't be worried for him daughter_, Athena consoled her gently, _he's a son of Poseidon, so he's sure to land on his feet (sadly.)_

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.**

"I told you," Aphrodite started, "it's highly un-"

"Yes, yes," Zeus tried to hush her, "I understand: where I promise to bring the issue up after we have finished reading the books."

_Way after…_

"That's all I ask," she grinned happily, settling back down to envision the fighting scene.

**I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

"I think you will!" Ares yelled, practically jumping up and down in his seat, as it took everything from Poseidon, Athena, Artemis and Hera not to laugh at that moment.

**Then something happened. **

"What?" Ares asked, his happiness starting to vanish slowly, as his brain started to churn and think things through.

"Well," Dionysus sighed sarcastically, "if you wouldn't have interrupted at that moment we would have known by now, but, now I guess we'll just have to wait a few seconds more…"

"You're evil," Artemis smiled at him. "You know that, don't you?"

"And a few seconds more again added onto those extra few seconds wasted…."

"Evil," she chanted playfully, as she saw Ares getting closer to the truth.

"And a…"

"Shwsh," Hera giggled, despite herself, where she struggled to regain her composure, "we really need to read on."

**I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach.**

"Uh-oh," Ares said, finally realising what was going to happen and appearing powerless to stop it from happening.

**I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

"Hah!" Poseidon yelled towards Ares in triumph, as the whole room erupted in laughter, whilst Ares sunk lower into his seat, trying to make himself invisible.

_Stupid son of Poseidon,_ he muttered, _I should have known he'd do something like this! Don't worry, Clarisse – you'll get him next time!_

**I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt.**

As bad as everyone wanted to comment on these humorous events, Ares' face still appeared to be glowing murderously: where they thought it best to keep quiet now and comment later.

**The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her.**

**But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right our of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

"Now," Apollo grinned, unable to keep quiet any longer. "He's definitely the 'supreme lord of the bathroom'!"

Poseidon smiled proudly in his sons memory, "That's my boy."

"No offense, Ares," Hermes said, "but you have to admit for someone with zero training that that move was awesome!"

"For a beginner," he said grudgingly, although he was still peeved.

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my guy lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.**

Athena glared at Poseidon, where he just burst out laughing hysterically.

"Don't glare at me," he laughed, as her face continued to heat up in anger, "it's not my fault!"

"Hrmph!"

**She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

"Lucky guy," Persephone grinned, feeling sympathetic towards Annabeth- who had obviously been concerned about the boy's safety throughout the experience.

"The perks of being my son," Poseidon gloated happily: appearing more cheerful than the other's had seen him in a while.

"I hope she's not going to be too angry at him," Hestia added, "after all, it's not his fault that he hasn't learnt how to control his powers."

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you …"**

"**I don't know."**

"Seriously?" Dionysus' eyes widened, "is this books trying to tell me that these two still don't know who Percy is?"

"It certainly appears to be that way," Athena frowned, wondering what was stopping her daughter from figuring this simple details out when she had already figured out much more complicated details.

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage.**

"Highly unnattactive," Aphrodite shuddered visibly, glancing over towards Ares, "remind me to put 'give a makeover' to your daughter on my to do list when this is over, please."

"She's absolutely fine as she is," Ares said gently, highly afraid that he'll wake up one day to find his little warrior tucked up into a thrilliy dress. –The very thought alone gave him nightmares.

"Believe me honey," she grinned at him, appearing as if she never heard the complaint at all, "you'll thank me for this later!"

"But-"

"Oh look," Zeus interrupted, "we're nearly at the end!"

**She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

"that's the spirit," Ares smiled faintly, "never show weakness and never ever give up!"

Hermes glanced across to Poseidon, "be sure to tell the present Percy to watch out for her in the future."

"Will do," he smiled, although he was feeling a little nervously about _this _Percy right now.

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

Poseidon dared not laugh again, seeing as Ares had almost reached his tolerance limit for the boy.

_I wonder if I can ever get him to go back to liking my son…?_

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"Probably a mixture of both," Demeter said, as the others nodded their agreements. "Because after all," she went on, "if he'd done that to me I wouldn't have been so nice and friendly towards him after that."

"Same," Aphrodite agreed immediately, shuddering at the thought of getting dowsed in such filth.

"Then I guess my daughter's a better person than you," Athena smiled at them sweetly, "morally at least."

"**What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

"**I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"And that's it," Zeus concluded, closing the book.

"Well, that certainly was an interesting chapter," Artemis whistled.

"Best one so far, I'd say," Apollo agreed, "even though my children weren't in it yet."

"Time for our break now?" Dionysus asked his father, desperate for release to calm down and play some games.

"Yes," he sighed, "but be back in one hour!" he called as Dionysus instantly disappeared on the last world.

"I will!"

As everyone started disappearing, Poseidon made his way towards the war god, in attempt to secure peace between him and his son. However, as he had him in his sight, the war god vanished instantly, leaving him to sigh frustrated.

Next time, he vowed, before vanishing himself.

_**(A.N. it's shorter than what I wanted it to be because of revision time, but on the whole it's not so bad. It'll probably be a week now before I update again- straight after my exam.**_

_**As I always say, reviews are always welcome, where if you want to ask me something or suggest something to me: feel free to.**_

_**Thank you again for those who've taken the time to review, and I'll see you guys soon.**_

_**T.T,F,N)**_


	10. Getting Even

_**(A.N.) Hey guys, I'm back! Thanks for the reviews—they were really helpful. **_

_**Okay, before I start on the next chapter I'd like to add one thing, just to make sure you're on the same wavelength as me- as I've received some messages asking me about this and just want to put things right. At the start of this fanfic, I said that the story takes place a couple of days after Percy turns down immortality. The reason I chose to start my fan fiction here is because I want my fanfic to be based around the 'Percy Jackson and the Olympian' series and not the 'Heroes of Olympus series', as, for one, I personally rather the 'old' characters, and don't want to complicate things by adding more. Second, the plot that's developing has nothing to do with the plot I'm developing, and since I don't know how Rick Riordan's going to develop the plot I want to stick with what I know. Thirdly, I'm not keen on the god's split personalities (not split exactly, but you know what I mean) and it'll be rather difficult to portray the two sides of them in my fan fiction. So for that reason I wanted to start my fanfic right after the meeting with the gods in TLO and pretend TLH doesn't exist. **_

_**Right, with that said, I think it's safe for me to carry on writing. Mmmm, wonder what will happen this time…**_

_**Enjoy)**_

_**Oh! P.S. Some of the people who reviewed also asked me about whether or not I'll bring the future characters back into the fanfic…Well, I can definitely say that I can't bring them in when they're still on the first book. Maybe in between books or certain future chapters, we'll flick to see how they're doing in the future—to see if any changes have been made already, where it'll be around the last two books-preferably after the note—that we'll get to see (if we do, that is, haven't quite decided yet) these future characters before their world changes. What I can tell you though is I'm planning to continue the fanfic after the fifth book anyway, so you can see how the future's changed (don't ask me how the future will be like yet as that's a loooong way into the future!) and how the characters and their lives are now.**_

_**Okay, now I think that really is everything….anyone else have any questions to ask me, just let me know. **_

_**Finally, without further a due…**_

**Chapter 10: Getting Even**

_(The scene takes place in Athena's Palace, during the break in between reading, where Artemis, Aphrodite, Persephone, Demeter, Hera and Hestia are sitting down comfortably in one of her many lounges.)_

"I still cannot believe that he had the nerve to do that to me," Athena shuddered visibly, has her eyes glowed with hated as she recalled the latest ''prank'' her beloved brother had played upon her.

"It's because Apollo's an idiot," Artemis sighed, still sour at him for choosing that awful song choice, "and because he's male."

"It's not only you he's done this to," Hera consoled her, feeling suddenly happier about the song choice her adopted son had chosen for her. _Maybe this is a sign that he's finally coming around to respect me, where he's starting to see me as his proper mother,_ she smiled happily at the thought, _if only! _She turned her attention back to appeasing her adoptive daughter. "He's done this to all of us, so there's no need to feel singled out."

"Yes," she agreed after a moment, her eyes still clouded darkly, "but I just know that he had the help of Hermes and Ares: and even possibly Hades and Poseidon too- as I'm sure that they'd never miss an opportunity such as this!"

Some of the females present squirmed uncomfortably upon hearing this, as they knew differently.

However, Artemis, rather than feeling guilty, was smiling at Athena with encouragement. "I'm sure that they helped him. In fact," her grin widening, she went on, "I'm sure that all the other males were in on it."

Hestia, Aphrodite and Persephone all glared at Artemis' deceit, though willing to openly contradict her and reveal the truth.

"I'm sure, _mother," _Athena grinned sweetly at Hera, earning a delighted smile from the ignorant Queen, "that the fact that the men have so obviously moved against us, that's it's only fair for us to retaliate once against them also—to even the playing field, of course?"

Hera mused for a moment, in deep thought_. I suppose,_ she agreed silently, _that if the males truly did move against us, that it's only fair that I allow us to do the same-to save any future fighting over it- where I can also stop the situation from escalating if it goes to far…I know it's against what I normally believe in, but what's the harm? After all, _she smiled,_ it will bring me closer to my family,-and Zeus did say that he wanted more excitement in his life…._

"Just nothing too extreme," Hera cautioned, though nodding her approval.

"With many thanks," Athena laughed happily, causing Hestia to frown slightly at the developing situation, leaving Aphrodite and Persephone unsure what to do and where their loyalties lay.

Demeter meanwhile was having no moral troubles. Seeing her daughters conflicted face on the couch besides her, she gathered her daughter tightly into an affectionate hug. "Now, come on, daughter," she sang, "it'll be fun! A chance to get your husband back for all that he has done to you—in such a way that no one actually has to get hurt…_sadly."_

"What was that?" Persephone asked, not being able to make out the last part of the statement.

"Nothing dear," she smiled, before looking back to a fierce Athena. "What did you have in mind?"

"And let's bare in mind," Hestia felt the urge to point out nervously, "that Apollo only put a permanent doorbell on the outside of your Palace: so it must be something small to make it equal, and not something bigger that will encourage retaliation or there's no point in this discussion going any further."

"Well said, sister," Hera smiled once, before turning her attention back to the younger generation.

"But," Artemis protested, "they've also been annoying us inside the throne room- especially by their annoying little comments: so I say that it's only fair…"

"You cannot add that onto this discussion to simply increase the level of this ''prank'' as you lot call it," Hera said firmly, "as you girls have not only retaliated verbally and physically," she eyed Artemis, remembering the way that she cruelly used her arrows unneedidly, "but you've also started quite a few of the arguments, so I declare that –in this area- there is equality between the two sides."

"But there's more of them than us," Demeter protested sullenly, glaring at her sisters obsession with reason.

"What's that have to do with anything?" Aphrodite smiled, feeling the need to stick up a little for the men –or her two boys at the very least, "that just means that we have to deal with the situation smarter- not just increase the violence. After all, we're doing this for fun: not to cause anyone pain or anything, right?"

"Definitely," Persephone nodded enthusiastically, "I'm all up for that plan!"

"That's fine," Athena said simply, "Now, has anyone got any good ideas?"

…

…

…

…..

…

_(The next scene takes place in the throne room, with everyone gathered and sitting in their usual places, where we see the aftermath of the 'prank'.)_

Dionysus, Hades and Hephaestus just glared moodily at Artemis, as the rest of the room erupted in loud laughter, "And you really expected me to be thrilled by that?" the wine god scowled grumpily.

"Well," the girl said defensively, "we'd thought it would have at least cheered you up a little…"

"What you mean cheered up?" he raised an eyebrow at her as he downed his eighth can of diet coke, "I've already cheered up immensely from that last session: can't you tell?"

She just looked at the sour looking wine god from head to toe, taking in his miserable expression, "Um, no. Why, do?"

"Yes!" he growled at her, "though you're quickly making it disappear!"

"Sorry," she apologised, rolling her eyes at him, while searching for someone else to talk to.

Zeus meanwhile, couldn't stop laughing, as he gazed at his wife with astonishment and pride. "You really thought of doing all that…?"

"Yep," she grinned, immensely satisfied by his reaction. _This is turning out to be the best day of my life…!_

"All on your own?" he continued – still giggling – in disbelief.

"Yes," she laughed happily with him, glancing around at the majority of the smiling faces: mostly noting the tender way Hades held Persephone's hand as he whispered something in her ear that made her blush in embarrassment.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why?" he asked genuinely, "you didn't have to.."

"Adventurous and exciting, was what you wanted more of in your life, wasn't it?" she grinned, "Don't ask how I accomplished it, but just be glad that I did, as this family hasn't been this happy and close together in a while…"

Poseidon, still chuckling, meanwhile turned to face Ares, who was laughing at some random comment of Hermes'. Noticing Poseidon's gaze, he looked up from the conversation, looking warily, as his features started closing protectively.

"You know," Poseidon sighed, swallowing his pride rapidly as he addressed Ares, "just because our children don't like each other doesn't mean that we have to dislike each other. Moreover, just because our children are arguing, that doesn't necessarily mean that we have to dislike the other s child: as –knowing the minds of children- they can easily become friends once again."

"What are you trying to say?" Ares stared at him, confused at the sea god's words.

"That I think that even though Clarisse was rash and harsh at dealing with my son, you have to admire her on the whole also: as I'm sure that she's a very courageous fighter, where I'm also sure we'll be able to see her true battle skills in action sometime soon."

"Thank you," Ares said, astonished at Poseidon's humbleness and trying to find the catch inside his speech. Athena meanwhile – having heard most of the speech – had her mouth open wide in surprise at the length's her rival was going to protect his son.

"Saying that," Poseidon continued, "can the same be said about my son? Given time, he might prove himself to be a very adequate warrior. He just needs the opportunity – with having as little people against him as he can, including you. So," Poseidon sighed –_it's almost over! _– he comforted himself, "what I'm trying to do is to ask for a truce between us: where I'll promise your child immunity when she's in my realm, if you promise me that Percy will have immunity when he's in yours."

"What if their arguments get worse instead of better?" Ares said, not willing to completely wash his hands off this deal, as he realised the rarity, and all the good things that this deal would bring his favourite daughter.

"It's not our problem," Poseidon stressed, "but there's, where we must let our children deal with it themselves, as we let them deal with most other issues in their life. This bargain allows them to interact with one another how they please, without either of us allowed to get involved."

"So," Ares smiled mischievously, "if I agreed, then Clarisse could beat up your son, even in the middle of the Ocean, and you wouldn't be allowed to lift a finger to interfere?"

"Exactly," the sea god winced slightly at that particular image, "and vice versa. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Ares smiled, as he suddenly felt the magic of the bargain sweep through them both. "Truth be told, I've got nothing against your son, not really – I actually kind of like him!- but he doesn't stand a chance against Clarisse."

"Give him time," Poseidon smiled, hugely relieved that he'd successfully gotten rid of one potential threat that was opposing his son- as he was pretty sure that, with Percy's attitude and sarcastic comments, he was going to need it badly!

_Now_, he muttered, _if only I can get rid of the rest…_

"Right," Zeus announced, interrupting his train of thought, "that's enough chatter. Who will read the next chapter?"

"It will be a pleasure to, father," Athena beamed at him, as she gently took the novel from his grasp and sat back down in her elegant seat.

"Right," she grinned, "the next chapter is called **My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke**. Well, I think we can certainly guess what that's referring to."

"He accidentally leaves his marshmallows over the fire for too long?" Apollo said innocently.

"Please," Hermes shook his head, "if he did that they'd turn into a liquidly puddle, not ash!"

"Then...," Apollo amended, thinking fast on his feet, "one of his newly found enemies at camp has detected his weakness for food, and in a last ditch effort to try to make him go slowly insane, they tie him up tightly within reaching distance of the fire and cook some steaks over it- where, as they slowly burn to ash, he loses his mind and goes insane. Annabeth plays the grieving widow and Dionysus and Clarisse dance for joy around his body wearing hoola skirts and sombreros: the end."

Athena just stared in disbelief at her brother, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Hermes just laughed at the situation, and whispered to him, "you just love winding her up, don't you?"

"It's my first and most important job, where I make certain that I accomplish some devious act upon her every single day," he sighed happily. "Sometimes even twice a day!"

"She's going to get you back for that, you know," Hermes smiled.

"Please," Apollo snorted, I'll just hit her back twice as hard and she knows it."

As the goddess finally gathered herself together, she continued to stare hatefully at Apollo, before adding, "What I was going to say was that it reminded me of how they burn an offering towards us at every meal time: which suggests that this chapter will simply be a display of how he discovers life at camp is.

"Now," she forced on a smile, "let's read on, shall we?"

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately.**

"Ooops," Aphrodite grinned, "probably my children, seeing as I am the one who's most updated with all the latest gossip around here."

"Really?" Dionysus said, "I never would have guessed."

"Now," Hera cautioned him, "must you continue to act negatively. Come on-after all, you've just agreed to be nicer and more positive to the children at camp: we must see an example of this."

Dionysus just grumbled a 'fine', and swore to become more positive the next time he spoke.

"That's all I ask," Hera smiled, then nodded once to her daughter to continue reading.

**Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water.**

"That's definitely not something that I want to become famous for," Persephone shuddered sympathetically with the boy.

**Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

"Yep," Hermes grinned, "that's even worse!"

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), **

"I still do not understand why most schools nowadays don't continue with this practising," Hephaestus sighed, "it could save many of their lives one day."

"Oww," Aphrodite comforted him, "it's okay, try not to worry about it. If you want, I guess we could go around the schools and try to get it a modern thing again?"

"The two of us?" he said hopefully, not quite believing that he was being given the opportunity to improve everything he'd ever wanted to in a single moment.

"Why not?" she grinned in happiness at seeing his smile widen, "after all the meetings we're sure to have after these books, we'll fit it in somewhere between my classes with Chiron and Grover."

"That sounds wonderful," he smiled, "oh- I've also managed to adjust the jewellery you wanted to wear for the ball…it's in my little workshop I my Palace, so whenever you want it all you have to do is come ove…"

"This is all very nice and all," Athena glared at the pair at them, who were grinning sheepishly, "but if we could actually get to finishing the books would be good."

"Sorry," they replied, trying not to giggle.

"Reading's harder than you're led to first believe, is it not?" Hera smiled at her.

"I haven't even begun properly yet," Athena argued, "where I'm sure that it will improve vastly over time."

_I wouldn't count on it,_ Hera sang happily, as she and Zeus laughed at the sudden thought, as a proper couple.

**the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

"Urm….," Hermes said, not knowing what to say.

"Don't you think that's a bit much, Chiron?" Hestia frowned at the centaur, "as I'm sure I cannot imagine a situation where this kind of thing is likely to happen."

"Oh, you'd be surprised at how often the demigods find themselves in this type of situation, "the Centaur answered her. "You have to remember that the point of the camp is not for the children to relax or have fun – the way childhood should be – but to train hard to be able to survive in the outside world, and of course, to be the heroes that you all desperately want them to be."

"Besides," Dionysus added, "even though we push these children ever harder all the time to be better able to fight against all the monsters that have accumulated in the modern world: we probably..uh, mostly, save them if they run into something that they truly cannot handle."

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

"**I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

"Oooh," Persephone winced, "somebody's upset: though I can understand why."

"**Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

"**Whatever."**

"That was a little cold," Apollo said, "don't you think?"

"In my opinion," Athena said clearly and loudly, "I think it's better to appear cool and collected rather than shout out all the issues you have with a person. That way then you're giving yourself the opportunity to cool down so the bond may be reformed at a later date."

"I was only saying…"

"Well," Athena's smile was superior, "only say it to yourself next time."

"**It wasn't my fault."**

"It most certainly was," Artemis snorted, "that's a typical male response."

"Artemis," Hera warned her, "I've already warned Dionysus about his negative attitude – do you need the same reminder?"

"No, mam," she said politely.

"Very good."

**She looked at me sceptically, and I realized it **_**was**_** my fault.**

"Well," Demeter sighed softly as Artemis sank a little in her seat, "at least he's honest. I think, Artemis, that you owe him an apology."

"Sorry," she stated a little confused by the admission. He certainly wasn't like the other males around her…

**I'd made the water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.**

"Awesome phrase," Apollo cheered as the others rolled their eyes. "You know what? I'm going to entitle my next poem on this topic: it'll be epic!"

"Yes," Hades agreed hastily, "though I'd save it until the next session, after you've had some time to work on it."

"Good idea," Apollo nodded his approval, "thanks Uncle!"

"Your welcome…"

"**You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

"Wooo," Apollo cheered again, causing Athena to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration in attempt to cool down, "this could also feature in it! I'm liking the way your son's choreographed this, Athena: Rob, wasn't it?"

"Rick," she answered him proudly, sounding a little more patient than usual.

"Why mention the Oracle at all though?" Zeus questioned, "seeing as how he doesn't know she exists yet."

"And I still can't believe that she hasn't guessed that he's Poseidon's son," Hades shook his head a little devilishly in attempt to rile his niece.

"She'll release this soon enough," Athena sighed, then carried on before any more comments could be made.

"**Who?"**

"**Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

"Which of course I won't allow, as I do not know his parentage yet," Chiron said.

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

"So would we," Hephaestus said, his voice neutral, "but I'm afraid that it's never going to happen."

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below.**

"Naiads," Dionysus yawned simply, allowing Athena to move on without much fuss.

**They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend. **

"Well, _technically_, no, but—" Athena started to explain.

"Don't worry, sis," Ares said, "we get it!"

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

"Haha," Hermes cooed, "he's so naïve, isn't he?"

"Be careful, twin," Apollo turned mischievously to glance at Artemis, "or this boy might actually convince you that we're not so bad after all!"

"Hrmph!"

"**Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

"Oh myself!" Aphrodite gasped delightedly, "she's jealous!"

Athena glared daggers at her, "How dare you say such a thing? She was only being helpful!"

"Jealous," Persephone whispered, causing Poseidon's to hastily cover his sudden laugh in the form of a sudden cough.

"**Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."**

"So you can face furies, Satyrs, the Fates, Minotaur's, centaurs, a very angry god, a highly strung bully and some weirdly cool water abilities," Hades listed, "but you can't handle some Naiads."

"I'm not trying to be mean or moody," Dionysus stated, "but it has got to be said that something must be seriously wrong with him."

Poseidon just glared evilly at him, as Hestia stepped in quietly to defend him.

"Don't pick on him," she pleaded at them earnestly, "after all, he's had a long day: where all the events that have happened recently have probably built up horribly for him – where he simply can't take much more."

"Sure," Hera nodded, "a good night's sleep and he'll feel a lot better about the situation."

"Or he'll be the exact opposite and try to say this was all a dream," Hephaestus commented, causing Dionysus to frown harder.

"He better not," he warned, his voice was struggling to find a neutral tone.

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You **_**are**_** home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

"**You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

"Hey now," Aphrodite tried to comfort him – or the image of him she had in her mind, "that's not it at all!"

"But it's how a lot of them feel when they arrive," Dionysus said, earning thoughtful looks from the gods.

"**I mean **_**not human**_**. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

"**Half-human and half-what?"**

"Really? Must we go over this again?" Zeus sighed glumly.

"Maybe," Hera tried to cheer him up, "that in this explanation he finds out who he is at last."

"Somehow I doubt it," Chiron said bluntly, earning a little glare from Poseidon.

"**I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did.**

"Don't you dare fall back into denial," Ares growled in warning, "or I'll…"

"Huh-hrmph," Poseidon said, cocking his eyebrow at the war god, "do you remember the certain agreement we made about five minutes ago!"

"Oh, yeah.." he muttered meekly, as Athena rolled her eyes before continuing.

**I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad. **

"Aw," the majority of the females cooed as the males shook their heads at them lovingly- and also in distaste.

"**God," I said. "Half-god."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

"**That's … crazy."**

"**Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them.**

"That's men for you!" Apollo shook his head at Hermes in disgust.

"Um," Hermes said to his friend, a little confused, "unless I've been mistaken for all these years, but aren't _you _a man?"

"Yeah," he snorted, "but since Artemis isn't allowed to say stuff like that- at least for this chapter- anymore, I figured someone had to."

"Okay…"

"So you see," he smiled at Hermes, "there's a method to my madness after all."

**Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

"Well, they've _tried_. Key word being tried." Dionysus grinned innocently at a sheepish looking Zeus and Poseidon.

"You just couldn't keep it in your pants, could you?" Ares grinned at his father, as he started to turn to look towards him.

"Well," Zeus replied, "that's about to change."

"Riggggghhhht," Athena grinned, "we believe you."

"Only time will tell," Hera said simply and finally, forcing Athena to read onwards.

"**But those are just—" I almost said **_**myths**_** again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, **_**I**_** might be considered a myth. **

"At least something's stuck with the boy," Demeter smiled as Chiron grinned, pleased that Percy was showing signs of learning already.

"**But if all the kids here are half-gods—"**

"**Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

"**Then who's your dad?"**

"Well that was very sexist of him!" Apollo exclaimed angrily, crossing his arms and making his face scrunch nastily into a huge point.

"Hey!" Artemis protested, "I do_ not_ look like that!"

"No offense," Aphrodite comforted her, as Persephone nodded in agreement, "but you totally do."

"I don't," she said stubbornly, "do I?"

"Yes!"

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"Sensitive may not be the right word for it," Hestia gave a small laugh.

"**My dad is a professor at West Point," she said.**"**I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."**

"**He's human."**

"Well, duh," Dionysus stated.

"Dionysus," Hera sighed once.

"Sorry."

"**What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

"Well," Hephaestus reasoned, looking at Hestia, Artemis and Hera, "it's mostly the male gods that do, so your daughter, Athena, shouldn't be this surprised by this comment."

"**Who's your mom, then?"**

"**Cabin six."**

"That's really not the smartest answer she could have given him," Aphrodite agreed with her husband, "especially since he barely knows what the cabins stand for."

"But," Demeter opposed, feeling sympathetic for the child, "in a way it is: as she's trying to get him in the swing of things. So, rather than simply telling him, she's trying him to think of the answer himself, so he's better able to accept the world around him."

"But," Poseidon added, "as I noted before – even though she's tackling this quite professionally, Percy, being my son, would rather straight answers in a more personal/friendly style, rather than long and calculated statements."

"Let's just carry on with the reading, shall we?" Persephone suggested, as she liked both children and would rather avoid an argument.

"**Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

"My daughter," Athena grinned proudly at the statement, before moving swiftly onwards.

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

"**And my dad?" **

"**Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

"Except Percy's dad, of course," Apollo smiled, causing the majority of the others to role their eyes.

"Was there really a point to mentioning that?" Demeter asked in bewilderment."Of course he knows he's Percy's father, why wouldn't he?"

"Oh," Hermes objected, "you say that now, but must I remind you people how many children of yours I have in my cabin at the moment that you've forgotten about, or just simply can't be bothered with?"

An awkward silence filled the room.

"My thoughts exactly," Hermes sighed, as Athena moved on.

"**Except my mother. She knew."**

"She certainly did," Poseidon smiled, his memory happily drafting back to that perfect summer…

"Did you tell her who you were?" Zeus asked, not at all sounding as angry as he would have been a couple of days before: but simply curious.

_Mmm,_ Poseidon thought pleasantly, _these books are really having a good influence on him already…_

"I didn't have to," he answered his brother honestly, "she could she through the mist and recognised I was different."

"**Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

"Personally," Apollo said, "I rather not tell most of them. It's only the odd one or two that I get attached to that I spill all to in just that right moment-"

"Apollo," Artemis groaned, "did you really need to-"

"Yes," he smiled at his twin, "I really did."

"Let's move on," Dionysus suggested, "before any more of you decide to bombard us with details that are better left unheard."

Apollo just looked offended, "What did I say?"

"**My dad would have. He loved her."**

"That I did." Poseidon said fondly as Persephone and Aphrodite cooed happily. "In fact, I still do."

Aphrodite's heart beated even harder, as the sudden rush of strong love flooded through her system. _When we next hear from Sally_, she decided, _that's when I will do everything I possibly can to repair and strengthen this bond between them: where they'll hopefully live together forever. _

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.**

"**Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes is happens."**

"**You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

All the gods and goddesses looked down ashamed, as they cared for all their children, where they couldn't stand that they seemed to think otherwise

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always … Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

"That's not true, we _do _care." Aphrodite sighed miserably, "It's just that we can't show it."

"Technically," Hestia disagreed, speaking as a whole and not an individual, "we're not allowed to show favouritism. There's nothing in the rules that says we must ignore our children, as we're doing now. Actually, in a way we're showing favouritism now, by choosing to claim some children, but ignoring others."

"What if," Athena asked her father, "that we made sure that we treated them all equally, by claiming, visiting or even bonding with them all?"

"I'm not sure," Zeus said at last, after thinking it through. "It's been so long, I'm not sure that I can recall all those rules that were written ever so precisely upon the golden parchment. But," he added, glancing at his children who were about to protest angrily, "as soon as this is over, it will be one of the first things we will research—as I agree that we need to change and better a lot of factors in our world, including this."

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.**

"We really should," Hermes sighed, as the others continued to be struck with guilt.

"He may be young and immature," Hera smiled at her husband, "but I'm certain that we'll all be able to learn something from this boy: whether the lesson is small or large."

"**So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

"**It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force.**

"Hey!" Aphrodite protested angrily, "just because you don't appreciate or understand the full extent of my powers doesn't mean that I'm not equally as powerful as any other person here: as I'm certainly the oldest here—with far more experience of the world than anyone!"

"Very true," Demeter scowled, already planning to teach this superior little madam a lesson for her lack of respect.

"I'm sure," Athena reasoned, "that she didn't mean to slight anyone…"

"Well, she did," Aphrodite huffed, throwing her rich and glossy hair over her right shoulder perfectly and elegantly, "so let's just read on and hope that she redeems herself of her pride."

**The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us.**

"No," Ares snorted, "they wouldn't –well, most of them anyway- be bothered about something so formal and glorious as that: they'd just want to kill you."

"That was a little harsh, wasn't it?" Persephone said hesitantly.

"That's life for you."

**Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off.**

Everyone frowned at that, recognising it as another thing that would have to be improved in future.

**A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

"More like next to none," Dionysus sighed as Athena glared at him before trying to hurry on.

"Not nice when someone's speaking ill of your child now, isn't it?" Poseidon said, referring the comment towards her. She shook her head once, slowly, before continuing where she left off.

"**So monsters can't get in here?"**

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

"Why would you intentionally stock them in the woods though?" Demeter asked Chiron, as Dionysus shook his head at the stupid question.

"Sometimes as a training exercise or simply a demonstration," the centaur answered quickly, "where I make certain that they're nothing the students cannot handle."

"**Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

"**Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

"Practical jokes?"

"**Practical jokes?"**

"Geez, Chiron," Hades shuddered, "how wild have you trained these children to be exactly?"

"Now," Apollo, started, his easy going smile widening suddenly, "doesn't that make you appreciate my practical jokes even more?"

"Knowing you," Hermes grinned, "it's probably your children that conjured them in the first place—at your request!"

"Really, Hermes?" Artemis laughed at the pair of them, "you're as bad as my brother."

"Yeah," Poseidon smiled, "your two were probably in on it together."

"**The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

"**So … you're a year-rounder?" **

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colours. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

"**I've been here since I was seven," she said.** "**Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year."**

"That doesn't seem like much of a cheering up gift," Aphrodite protested, feeling sorry for the helpless children down on earth. "I'd personally give them a fashionable necklace for every month—from me personally, so they know that I care about them, and that they will be able to have something new to wear on a night out."

"But they're only twelve," Hades frowned.

"That doesn't stop them from socialising, does it?" she raised her eyebrows at him challengingly.

"I guess not…"

**I've been here longer than most of the counsellors, and they're all in college."**

"**Why did you come so young?"**

"I wouldn't mind hearing that reason myself," Poseidon and Hephaestus murmured, as Athena started fidgeting.

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

"Okay," Ares rolled his eyes, "touchy."

"Well," Hera said, "would you blame her? After all, she's only known him properly for a couple of hours."

"We'll probably find out in time, anyway," Dionysus said, "just like everything else."

"**Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So … I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

"If you wanted to be suicidal," Artemis snorted at the boy's naivity.

"**It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission.**

"Which would be close to impossible for him to get," Chiron said confidently.

**But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless …"**

"**Unless?"**

"**You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time …"**

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well. **

"I wonder what happened?" Demeter asked aloud, but the others just shook their heads in ignorance.

"How d'you expect us to know?" Ares glared at her, getting increasingly restless for some action.

"I was just thinking aloud," she glared back at him with equal force. "Is that a problem?"

Not used to this side of Demeter being shown towards him, he could only stare at her in surprise.

Therefore, with a strong sense of confidence, she grinned triumphantly at him, as Athena just rolled her eyes and continued reading.

"**Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff—"**

"**Ambrosia."**

"**Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you **_**do**_** know something?" **

"Nope," Poseidon smiled, " he's simply asking you if you knew something,…though I'm guessing you don't by that statement. Or at least not much."

"I'm pretty sure by her reactions," Athena stated, "that she does know something more than what we know already, where she'll be reluctant to reveal what she knows if she feels that his answer's inadequate."

"With all these confusing twists," Apollo groaned, "why can't we just skip to the end?"

"We've already had this discussion once," Zeus sighed at his son.

"We can't skip to the end," Hera took over for him, "just in case we miss some crucial details, which could help us improve how we live and rule, and to learn what we can about any future attacks so that we can stop them earlier in this present time."

"**Well… no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

**She clenched her fists.**

The others sat on their thrones, waiting impatiently for her answer, whilst hoping that she would reveal something useful and new for them to work with.

"**I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so **_**normal**_**."**

"Well," Hades commented, "that wasn't very helpful."

"I'm sure she's holding something back," Poseidon commented, "though I'm not sure what…"

"**You've been to Olympus?"**

"**Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

"Which are so long and tedious," Zeus sighed, slumping into his seat with the reminder.

"Maybe we should think of something we can do to add a bit of glamour and humour to them then," Aphrodite suggested, "without, of course, anyone choosing to argue with each other."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Hera beamed at her. "Should we start thinking of some suggestions now, or continue with the book?"

"Might as well continue with the book," Dionysus said perking up a bit with the hope that the meetings would hopefully be more entertaining in future, "and just add this to the list of things we're definitely going to be discussing in detail."

"Right," agreed Athena, as she started to read onwards once again.

"**But… how did you get there?"**

"**The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already.**

"Now how on earth was he supposed to know that?" Persephone scrunched up her eyes, as Athena kept her head down- keeping strangely silent.

"It would have been on the orientation film if he'd have watched it," Chiron stepped in after a moment, as Athena carried on to read.

"**You **_**are**_** a New Yorker, right?"**

"**Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

"**Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. **

"Yes, yes," Zeus huffed impatiently, "I already know this! All I want to know is where it is and who stole it!"

"All in good time, honey," Hera comforted him, entwining their hands tightly together.

**And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping … I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got that rivalry with Poseidon.**

"And here we find her problem," Hephaestus sighed, "where the child's decided to follow the likes and dislikes of the parent.

"I'm pretty sure," Hestia commented on the scene, "that although she suspects him of being a son of a powerful god, she isn't necessarily making the connection that he's the son of Poseidon: more like she's trying to connect with him—to find out if he could be a useful ally for her to have in the future."

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**

"Yeah," Hermes agreed with Hestia, "you're probably right. Though I still think she's holding something back."

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

"Mmm," Apollo agreed, "what decent person could eat on an empty stomach? Speaking of which, I'm hungry!" he turned to look quickly at his father. "Can we go for a break now so I can get something to eat?"

"No!" Zeus growled, his mood darkening, "we _are _going to finish this chapter first."

"And if you're hungry," Hades frowned, "what's stopping you to conjure your own meal now?"

"But where's the fun in that?" Apollo grinned devilishly.

Hades sighed once, before passing him some ambrosia. "Here," he shoved it into his hands, "don't eat it all at once!"

"Mmm," he moaned again, "Thank you!"

"Can we just read on," Zeus said again, "_before _I lose my temper?"

"**I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm **_**not**_** too young. If they would just tell me the problem …"**

"Maybe," Hestia murmured, "they're just concerned about you and don't want to see you get hurt?"

"I agree," Aphrodite smiled at the girl, "after all, who would want to leave the safety of the camp to face the possibility of death _willingly_? If someone or something you loved was in danger, fair enough, but why would you wish to fight when you have no real need to?"

"For the honour," Ares replied, his expression serious, "as there's nothing more glorious and uplifting than a battle that was won and well-fought."

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later.**

**I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan. **

"Which was probably what she was doing?" Athena smiled, "though I wonder for what?"

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. **

"That's my children for you!" Hermes grinned, flashing mischievous smiles all around.

**They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.**

"They all tend to be troublemakers." Chiron said with experience.

"All as in all the children present at camp, or all as in all of my children?" Hermes wondered suddenly.

"Well," the centaur thought about the question that was asked, "even though most of the children at camp tend to labelled at one time or another as trouble makers, it must be said that your children stand out slightly more above the rest at being the worst around."

"Yes," Hermes grinned, his mood lightening even more, as Apollo awarded him with a high-five.

"Well then," the sun god exclaimed, "I must tell my children to work a lot harder at it then, mustn't I?"

"Me too," Ares laughed excitedly as he glanced at Hermes, "after all, I can't have my children looking back like that and behaving…_good!_"

"Oh," Chiron said hastily in a panicked tone, "that's quite alright, ..there's no need to…"

"Don't worry, Chiron," Artemis – who was sitting near him- whispered to him, "I bet they'll have forgetting this whole conversation by the time that this break starts."

"One could only hope," the centaur shuddered in horror at the thought of how much worse the children would behave if the gods carried out their competition against each other.

**Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.**

**The counsellor, Luke, came over.**

Hermes' smile widened at the mere mention of his son, as his senses were flooded with the vast amount of love that he felt towards him.

_No matter how far you go_, he whispered to him, _I will never give up on you! After the final book is finished, I will fight my hardest to be allowed to get close to you—to keep you from going so far along the path of destruction: to save you from yourself, and from me._

**He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. **

"**Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."**

"Your son certainly appears to be a nice young man, Hermes," Demeter smiled warmly at him, as the others muttered similar agreements.

_Should I tell them about Luke's destiny?_ Hermes wondered, slightly torn. _After all, they're going to find out about him eventually, where they'll also probably find out about me knowing about his fate too…No_, he decided, _it's probably better for them to watch Luke's actions for themselves, so that they can see the full consequence of how their neglect affects their children._

"Thank you," he told them all politely, as Athena smiled and moved swiftly onward.

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part. **

"Well," Apollo grinned at him, "seeing as Luke's this idiot's child, I really don't think he was kidding!"

"There's nothing wrong in stealing simple stuff that no one will miss,…that much," Hermes told him, as Apollo squished him in an enormous bare hug.

"I know that," Apollo scoffed, "but just don't steal anything from _me_!"

"Hypocrite," Artemis rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"But he loves me really!"

"That's what you think!"

**I said, "Thanks."**

"**No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushing his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

"Isn't it always?" Dionysus sighed, remembering hundreds of past coning faces whining at him about how hard their life was and how they wished things would be different: whether there was anything that he could do to change their fates for the better, where he always had to let them down by saying he couldn't…

"**I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

"Oooh!" Hephaestus winced, "did he not witness Dionysus' hissy fit a few minutes earlier?"

"**Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

_Except us continuously letting him down and ignoring him when he needed help_, Hermes sighed again, thinking about May._ If only I'd tried harder to discourage her…_

"I wonder what's his problem?" Ares asked.

"Besides feeling abandoned and alone?" Hestia replied, her voice carefully neutral.

"**So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."**

As Hermes put his head in his hands, Apollo comfortingly wrapped his arms around him in another tight embrace.

"Don't worry so much about this," he told him, "No matter what happens in these books we've still got a chance to change things for the better."

"Thank you," Hermes whispered, before Athena smiled warmly at the touching scene before carrying on.

"**The wing-footed messenger guy."**

"**That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travellers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

Hermes winced hard at the words as Apollo returned to where he sat, still giving him comforting looks.

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind. **

"**You ever meet your dad?" I asked. **

"**Once." **

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't I wondered if the story had any thing to do with how he got his scar. **

"Seeing that he hasn't got a scar right now," Apollo said, -as, being Hermes' closest friend -they often took an interest in each others children: where they often showed their protective and caring side towards them, "I wonder what happens in the future that caused it?"

**Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

"Except when we're trying to kill each other," Hera grumbled miserably over her statement, wishing that her family could be mended and moulded into the perfect family she'd always dreamed of having.

_Have hope_, Zeus called to her, as he acknowledged the importance of this image to her. _We're already a lot closer to your dream since reading the books_, he added, which was true, as he looked towards the laughing couple that were Hades and Persephone, and the slowly mending rift that was Poseidon and Athena and Apollo and Artemis. _It is within reach_…

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him—even if he was a counsellor—should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

"That's really touching," Persephone awed, as the sense of hope flowed stronger through the messenger god, "I wish our c-future child—would turn out like this: nice and helpful and sweet."

Although Hades winced considerably at the descriptions used, he hadn't the heart to discourage her, which left a giggling Athena to continue reading the novel.

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth … twice, she said I might be 'the one.'**

Aphrodite raised her eyebrows suggestively at a wary Athena. "He is _'the one'_ alright!"

"No he's _not_!" Athena protested loudly, "besides, you're completely missing the point!"

"Yeah, yeah," the love goddess said dismissively, "so some of the other campers think he could be the son of the major god: they still haven't figured which god he is yet, haven't they?"

"Let's just get on with the book, shall we?" Artemis suggested, glad that she had no children that the others could playfully torment.

"Hrmph!"

**She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

_Yes_, Apollo's face dropped sadly at the mention, _well I have to say that prophecies hate you too…but let's see now shall we, _he tried to brighten his thoughts_, what Daddy Hermes and Uncle Apollo can do to fix it!_

"**What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests.**

"Mmm," Dionysus frowned, "it must have went disastrous for you—us!—to ban quests, if only temporary."

"He must be beating himself up about it still," Demeter's voice softened considerably, "the way he goes on about it. I feel so sorry for him."

**Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until…somebody special came to the camp."**

Artemis decided to join in the harmless antics for once and started to nudge her elbow suggestively at the wisdom goddesses, causing her expression to swiftly shift from annoyance to huge surprise when she realised it wasn't Aphrodite.

"What?"

"**Somebody special?"**

"That's what he said," Aphrodite repeated in Athena's ear, as she high fived a blushing Artemis on a job well done.

"Girls!" she exclaimed, feeling exasperated by now, "just leave it alone – please! – and let me get on with this chapter!"

"**Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."**

"Mmm, fooood," Apollo started dribbling again, as the others laughed quietly around him, with the exception of a disgusted love goddess who threw him a baby's bib and a hambone to chew on.

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.**

"Woop woop," Apollo said, in between gulps, "what a weird super power: recognising what sound a shell makes when someone blows into it! Though…I wonder where it'll come in useful…"

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

"That's because my cabin's the best!" Artemis couldn't help but boast proudly.

"Pfft!" Apollo scoffed, throwing what was left of the bone away behind his throne, "Please! Though yours is silver, mine's made up of pure, solid gold: which proves mine's the best!"

"How do you figure that out?" Zeus mused, as Hera began once again to lose her patience.

"Because that how humans see it! In the Olympics what's the best medal you can have? Gold. In money, what's the most valuable bar you can have? Gold. Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold: so I win!"

As the others started arguing over who had the best cabin, Hera suddenly stood up, causing all commotion to cease immediately as everyone's attention slowly turned towards her. "I've had enough of all this arguing over cabins: where, I guess the only fair way to solve this quickly, is to judge myself which cabin is the best."

"Alright," said Zeus, as he once again entwined the couple's fingers together in a caring way, "who do you think has the best cabin, dearest?"

"Hades," she said instantly, causing the others to form faces full of surprise and outrage.

"Hades!" Zeus yelled at her, "why?"

"He hasn't even got a cabin!" Demeter protested vividly, glaring at her brother with undisguised hatred.

"Because," she smiled, "with the exception of Hestia and Persephone, he is the only person who hasn't kicked up such a fuss as you lot! Therefore, in my, opinion, he's the only one who deserves the title of having the best cabin. Now," Hera sat down once again comfortably, "with that issue out of the way let's hear no more about it. Athena, darling, you may start reading now."

"Yes, mother," she grumbled.

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods—and when I say out of the woods, I mean **_**straight**_** out of the woods.**

"Ah, wood nymphs," Dionysus sighed, "my one flaw!"

"One?" Hermes looked at him in disbelief. "Really?"

Dionysus just gave him dirty looks as the novel continued.

**I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill. **

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads. **

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

"Seriously, claim your kids!" Hermes yelled moodily at the others, "and while you're at it, buy some bigger tables, you cheapskates!"

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D.**

Dionysus suddenly smiled genuinely, feeling much affection towards both boys, where he loved them deeply, and couldn't stand the thought that one day death would take them from him.

**Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

Dionysus continued to chuckle evilly at the centaur, who responded simply by rolling his eyes at him.

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair. **

"My darlings," Athena sighed happily, "How I adore you?"

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

"Good girl, Clarisse!" Ares grinned towards her, "don't show any weaknesses what so ever!"

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

"To us!" Apollo raised a tall wine glass, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, and swallowed the contents in one gulp as Dionysus could only watch with hungry, desperate eyes.

"Evil," he hissed menacingly towards the sun god.

"Hey!" Aphrodite shouted angrily at Apollo, who continued to throw the used glass behind him, whereupon it smashed into a hundred pieces. "How come you can't summon any food to your side, but you can summon one of the most exotic brands of wine to be had?"

"Um….talent?" he suggested, as the goddess huffed angrily.

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want—non-alcoholic, of course."**

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. "**_**Blue**_** Cherry Coke."**

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.**

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

"He's so sweet," Hephaestus mimicked the girls reaction, as the boys giggled silently.

"He's soooo sweet," Aphrodite and Persephone sighed, as the guys burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Athena interrupted, whereupon – as no one said another word – she began reading once again.

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday…**

"Someday," finished Poseidon firmly, "you're going to save her, and bring her home safely: but not like this—never like this!"

"**Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the centre of the pavilion.**

**I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

"Urgh," the others sighed.

"Here comes another explanation," Artemis sighed tiredly.

"Hey," Hermes wondered, "though we're in the past, do we still get to sample the offering?"

"Probably not," Athena reasoned, "though don't despair about that, as the children from our time will be doing so in another hour or two."

"She's right," Hestia smiled at the group, "so we all need to cheer up guys!"

"**Come on," Luke told me. **

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

"So hungry…" Apollo groaned, clutching his stomach.

"You just ate a whole hambone yourself in less than five minutes!" Hades protested, looking a little aghast, "surely you can't be hungry yet?"

"But they all sound so tasty…." He moaned, his voice filled with lust.

"Look," Athena reasoned with him, "we're nearly at the end now, so if you can hold your hunger for three more minutes-you'll be fine."

"Yes, brother," Artemis rolled her eyes at him, "it's about time that you learnt to establish some self control."

"Cruel, cruel people," he sulked, as Hermes laughed silently at him.

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

"**You're kidding."**

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

"For the simple reason that it smells delicious," Ares grunted, looking forward their own experience of this later on.

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

"It's too bad we can't smell it right now…" Hermes said, grinning at a frustrated Apollo who was squirming restlessly in his seat. "As I'm sure it would have smelled absolutely divine…"

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

**Finally, I made a silent plea. **_**Whoever you are, tell me. Please.**_

Poseidon at that point wished more than anything that he could answer him, if only to comfort the poor child_. I promise, Percy, _after we finish reading the books_, I will find a way to be part of your life – no matter what…_

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.**

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

"Why does you're son torture me this way?" Apollo whined helplessly to Poseidon, who couldn't help but chuckle at the sun god's predicament.

"He – like I am – is just thinking of teaching you the basic lessons of self control."

"But it's so hard!"

"It gets easier," he promised. "Besides, you've only got two minutes to go!"

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh.**

"Lazy," Demeter snickered at him, which earned her a glare from the tired god, who was also attempting to learn a thing or two about self control.

"I dare you to try it," he challenged her, "to be amongst your children and not being able to show them hardly any attention: I bet you wouldn't even last five minutes!"

"**Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

"YES! Ares cabin rules!" Ares yelled in triumph, as Athena glared hatefully at that mental image.

"Not for long I'm sure," she retaliated swiftly, before she carried on reading.

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

"**Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

Dionysus chuckled humorously, as Poseidon glared at him.

"His name is Percy," he sighed, "get it right!"

"Whatever."

**Chiron murmured something.**

"**Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

"Yep," Hermes grinned, "that's our Dionysus: the god of cheer, happiness and laughter alright!"

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along.**

"Well," Apollo asked absurdly, taking his focus momentarily off his want of food, "who else would: Hades?"

"Oh," Aphrodite giggled, "that would be awesome to watch!"

"We could put Hades and Dionysus together: they'd make a great double act!" Hermes almost chocked as he was laughing so hard, as Hades and Dionysus simply looked upon him in hurt resentment.

"That wasn't very nice," Persephone scowled innocently at him, while trying not to laugh.

"No," Hades wrapped his arms around her, sounding serious, "it wasn't, was it?"

**We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

"Aw," Hestia smiled warmly at that, her eyes turning a molten red, "that's good to hear!"

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

"Aw." The goddesses all cooed at him this time in harmony, even Artemis and Athena themselves.

"He'll be fine," Hera assured Poseidon, who looked a lot less worried now over the safety and well being of his son.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"And with that ominous note," Athena finished, "the chapter is done! So Apollo, you may leave in search of your meal now."

"Oh," Apollo said sheepishly, "I don't need it now – as I feel quite full after all! But, I'll still leave immediately, if that's alright with you father, to write down the poetry I promised you all for the next session!"

With that, before anyone could persuade him otherwise, he stood and vanished in a brilliant, golden light.

"Right," Zeus took charge once again, "you know the drill: we'll meet back here in an hour to continue the reading!"

Therefore, as Zeus and Hera vanished, it leaved the rest of the gods and goddesses with an hours worth of total freedom, and not a clue what to do with it…

_**(A.N. And that's this week's chapter! Hope you liked it – the next one will be up in 1-2 weeks, depending on my exams…**_

_**Some of you guys may still be wondering what the actual prank was, and the simple answer is I'm not gonna tell you. This part of the story was actually the hardest to write, as the prank had to be a little one to make things equal, but it had to be funny enough to try to join people back together. I tried thinking of different things, trying to guess which one you guys would appreciate best, and when I finally found the perfect idea…I thought it would be more effective if I just skipped to the aftermath anyway, as it builds up a little suspense and excitement ready for the rest of the story. Yup, I'm mean aren't I? Mwah ha ha ha XD**_

_**Has anyone counted how much issues they've listed already about what they're going to discuss after reading the novels ?—Haha, it's getting ever longer … Yei…**_

_**So, on that note, thank you all for reviewing so far, where remember if you want a question answered, or want to suggest something about the structure or plot, feel free to! **_

_**T.T.F.N )**_


	11. Bonding Brothers

_**(A.N. Hey, once again guys thanks for reviewing –yei my chapters have reached two digits!- so I'm chuffed at that. So, seeing as there's much more action going on in this chapter I expect it to be longer than the last, so here we go.**_

_**Now, the last chapter ended with Apollo going off to write his latest poetry, Zeus and Hera going off…exploring… and the others still in the throne room bored and having no clue what they should do: let's see how each of them got on, shall we? (except I think I'll skip the Zeus and Hera scene this time, especially seeing as they'd prefer some alone time….**_

_**So without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy )**_

_**Chapter 11 = Bonding Brothers**_

_(Scene takes place in Apollo's Palace, where he's sitting upon his large but barely used desk in his arts studio, which is two whole floors big, and filled with every musical and theatrical instrument that has ever been invented.)_

"Um, limerick!" Apollo decided to himself, sprawling some works down on his composition papers.

"_There was a young guy from… New York_," he started smiling, "now what rhymes with York? Cork, fork, bork, pork, rork, zork, work, vork…ah – I've got it!

"_There was a guy from New York_

_Who sang and dressed like a dork,_

_He made Ares mad_

_And made Athena sad_

_And pulled us all from our work –so yeii!"_

"Nah," Apollo shook his head as he scrunched up the piece of paper and threw it over his head, "since when does Percy sing?"

"And weren't you supposed to mention something about the Oracle and Plumbing?" Hermes applauded, as he dodged the flying paper. Apollo turned suddenly in his seat to greet him, feeling a little happier about the company, but also a little frustrated with himself.

"Well," Apollo amended quickly, what about this:

"_Percy visited the Oracle_

_And not Professor Mcgonacle,_

_The plumbing and him became one_

_Where we saw that he had little fun_

_So now we all feel so sorricle –Oh no!"_

"Um," Hermes said, unsure of what to say.

"It's awful, isn't it?" Apollo moaned and slumped his body flat on the desk in despair.

"Well..."

"This is just great!" the sun god moaned, "the god of poetry can't even write a decent poem anymore! What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," Hermes started, as he conjured up a chair next to his brother and placed one arm on his back in comfort, "it's just that there's no such word as sorracle, and I'm pretty sure it's McGonagall, not…whatever you said. BUT- he stressed," seeing as the god was almost in tears, "that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it: after all, it's your job to think of new and original words and put a new spin of things…

"But," Hermes sighed, "I have to be honest: these days, all of your poems just seem to sound the same—I mean, you just keep using the same sort of rhymes, patterns, words and even phrases. Do you know how many times you've recited _"there was a young girl from Sparta?" _

"Too much?" Apollo guessed as he slowly lifted his head to face the other god.

"Way too much," Hermes agreed.

"I guess you're right – no, I know you're right- especially since my heart doesn't seem to be in it anymore…"

"Well," Hermes replied, "in reality all you need to do is break this same old pattern you've gotten yourself into and write in a completely new style: so it'll sound refreshing to the audience."

"What do you have in mind?" Apollo smiled a little.

"Well," Hermes mused, "when we went to Japan on that long weekend last week you did say that when you had time from work you wanted to try writing some—"

"Haikus!" Apollo grinned excitedly. "Yes! That's what I'll do! Wow – I feel the magic of creativity spreading through me already!—I don't know how to thank you!"

"Just recite me a poem," Hermes grinned, "right here, right now with no preparation."

"Um, okay," Apollo smiled shakily, and from the top of his head he recited:

_Fused with the plumbing_

_Send forth for the Oracle!_

_All is safe and sound."_

"OMG, Apollo," Hermes cheered, "that was so much better!"

"Better?" Apollo scoffed, "it was awesome! It was more than awesome, it was golden – so golden that it was on fire baby!"

"Got to love your modesty," Hermes rolled his eyes at him and ruffled his hair. "So, what did you think of that last chapter?"

"Funny and depressing at the same time: Poseidon's boy has one confusing but highly entertaining mind!"

"Tell me about it," Hermes said quietly, his smile vanishing.

This time Apollo was the one to place a comforting hand upon him. "We saw Luke again this afternoon," he continued, "he doesn't seem to be…"

"He will," Hermes said sharply in frustration, "You know what's in store for him better than anyone!"

"Yep-that's why I'm the lord of prophesies as well as being the supreme lord of the arts, namely music-but that's not the point," Apollo backtracked, "the point of this conversation is Luke, and I just think that the others would help us…"

"You haven't told them, have you?" Hermes asked, his eyes starting to glow and darken.

"Of course I haven't!" Apollo replied outraged at his friend's statement, "not only can't you tell them because that would be a direct disturbance of the prophecy, but I wouldn't as they need to find out for themselves what their actions have resulted in. Hermes," Apollo forced the tired god to look at him, "please remember that I'm your friend as well as your brother, and that you can trust me with anything!"

"I know," sighed Hermes, "and I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that the date's coming closer and closer: where I can see his resentment for me and the others growing daily where there's nothing I can do to stop it!"

"Not yet," the god smiled at him warmly as the messenger god continued to look confused.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Hermes replied, "you just said yourself that we can't interfere with the prophecy, so there's no way I can possibly make things right with him-"

"Hermes, Hermes, Hermes," Apollo tutted playfully at him. "You're missing the point, aren't you?"

"What point?" he just continued to look bewildered, forcing Apollo to shake his head and explain.

"Well," Apollo sighed, "what I said was that we couldn't tell the gods ourselves here and now what will become of Luke, as that would mean we have acted directly against the prophecy and the consequences would be dire. So, what should happen in our reality is what the book's are describing to us –whereupon Luke would have certainly have lived out the prophecy where us gods would have been unaware that the prophecy even existed until after it had been acted out."

"So…?"

"So," Apollo went on, "don't you see that it's never going to act out exactly like that now? The books from the future are going to change everything – even if we decide to change nothing at all about our behaviour – they're still going to exist where they haven't existed before."

"And…?"

"And," Apollo sighed at the messenger god, who he thought really was quite slow today, "that means that an indirect change has already occurred.—And before you ask, it's an indirect change because I'm sure that these future demigods didn't write the books specifically to help Luke, but to help a number of different beings in different situations – so, since they didn't act to break the prophesy directly, there'll be no horrible consequences for us to deal with.—So," Apollo smiled at his brother, "after the final book is read, and if Zeus agrees to hand out visitation rights, there's no reason for us not to try to fix the world and help your son find the right path once again."

Hermes could only stare at him – mouth open wide – in disbelief.

"Well," Apollo said a little out of breath after a few moments of silence, "say something!"

"And people have the nerve to call you dumb?" Hermes launched himself at Apollo, embracing him tightly, "you're anything but!"

"Guys!" Artemis called impatiently to them, having appeared in the room magically only milliseconds before, "enough with the male bonding - the next reading is nearly starting! What's taking you so long?"

"Nothing," Hermes smiled, drying his eyes quickly, "Apollo just told me the most wonderful thing-"

"Ow," Artemis suddenly backed away slowly from them, "I forgot that you were working on your poetry, brother…you know what? Never mind about being late: I'm sure father would rather you keep working on the poem if you think it needs perfecting, so by all means take your time…"

Oh, don't worry sis," Apollo pulled his biggest grin ever out at her, causing her to look absolutely mortified, "I'm actually done: so the three of us can just pop on over there together and "get it over with" as you say: come on!"

And with that, Apollo linked arms with his twin and brother and portalled them to the centre of the throne room, in front of a red-faced Zeus.

"Where have you two been?" Zeus hollered as Artemis did her best to warn him to stop and read on. "You were twenty minutes late and I sent Artemis to get you over an hour ago- what kept you!"

" Oii," Apollo protested suddenly, "it's only ten past seven now! So we're only late by ten minutes, where most of that was talking to sis about the poem I'm going to read to you…"

"Oh," Zeus shuddered in remembrance, "the poem – yes, I remember now!" Under his breath he groaned in pain, "you really didn't have to…"

"But I did," he grinned at them all happily, "where I've also found time to add some more improvements!"

"Such as?" Hestia asked intrigued, as the others groaned at her naivety.

"Please don't add another fifty extra verses like you did the last time you tried to improve them," begged Aphrodite.

"Or the time before that when you decided to change the verses length to five whole scrolls each!" pleaded Hephaestus.

"Nothing so extreme," Apollo smiled as everyone took their seats, "I've decided to scrap the limericks for a while as I was getting tired of them. Now, my latest passion is in Haikus!"

"Haikus?" Hades sat up hopefully, "you mean the single three line types of Haikus: THREE, like, as in, one, two, three?"

"With only 17 syllables in it altogether?" Dionysus grinned excitedly. "Seriously?"

"Yep!" Apollo confirmed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" the wine god proclaimed happily, "let's hear it!"

"Okay," Apollo sighed, absolutely chuffed at the reception that his work was receiving._ Yes, I'm back in business baby! "_The poem that I'm about to recite is dedicated to the latest chapter- 'Percy's first day at Camp'.

"_Fused with the plumbing_

_Send forth for the Oracle!_

_All is safe and sound."_

Tremendous cheer burst through the solid walls, as his family showed their happiness at the god's fresher –_and much shorter choice of poem!_

"Now then," Hera grinned, "who will read the next chapter?"

"I guess I will," Hades said, surprising everyone, "seeing as everyone must have a turn. Now then," he said, as he was handed the novel and found the correct page, "this chapter is called, **We Capture a Flag."**

"No surprise what this chapter's about then," Athena smiled happily at Ares, "I told you that you wouldn't hold it for long!"

Ares simply said, "Even though I think you've cheated, if it was deserving and well won by you, I'll applaud you – as a mature warrior should."

"I'll look forward to it," Athena replied, infusing genuine warmth into her words, as Hades decided to read on.

**The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.**

"Hey," Persephone smiled, "in our world that _is_ normal!" She turned to Hades, "he wouldn't last one minute in our place!"

"Ooh, that reminds me," Aphrodite added, "any updates on your remodelling?"

"Well, we finished the dungeons," Hades grinned, "which as we told you were all bright pink, and filled with killer teddy bears that will attack and try to rip apart anything that moves…"

"We've finished your wing too, mother," Persephone smiled at her warmly, "which we coloured with natural green and brown gems, that swirled and ended with spots of sun and wonderful crops starting to open. "

"We decided to do your wing first," Hades said, "even before our own, for you to feel perfectly comfortable to visit us any time you desire."

"And," Persephone finished, "when the garden is completed, Hades is even given you a spot to plant whatever you want: isn't he wonderful?"

"He certainly is," Demeter agreed, although grudgingly, whereupon her daughters smile brightened.

"Wonderful," Hades smiled tightly, "now before we build wings for the rest of you lot, we're going to do the necessities, such as ours, the ballroom, parlour, kitchen, dinning room, gardens, etc – before we even discuss the rest of the Underworld!"

"Now, baby," Persephone smiled, "don't get too stressed: we're taking our time to enjoy the work, remember?"

"Let's just read on then, shall we?" Demeter interrupted, suddenly, "as I'm sure that this will be the last but one reading before we all retire for the night, whereupon I'd like to read through this as soon as possible."

Hades just gave his wife _a look_, as he continued to read.

**Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird.**

"Let's just not comment and read on," Poseidon warned them seriously, where no one dared say a a word.

**I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English.**

"But he can't read English," Apollo frowned.

"He means that he sees ancient Greek as easy to read as someone without dyslexia finds English easy to read," Chiron answered him, as the god relaxed once again.

**After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.**

"Well," Athena sighed, "it's a start I suppose."

"Sis," Hermes grinned, "all of us can't be as academic as you and your children – so just and get over it and accept that some of us are born dumb."

"Percy's not dumb!" Poseidon argued angrily, causing the god to backtrack quickly.

"What he meant," Hephaestus sighed, "is that although Percy's not brilliant academically, he's brilliant at other processes."

"Hrrrm…"

**The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery,**

"Where," Apollo shook his head sadly, "I honestly doubt it's in this area."

**But we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow.**

"Knew it," Apollo smiled, remembering the few times his Uncle had tried to use his bow for practice, and grimaced at where the arrows landed. _Well_, he thought, _Dionysus and Hephaestus forgave him eventually_…

**He didn't complain, even when he had to de-snag a stray arrow out of his tail.**

"Ouch," Poseidon laughed as some of the other god's in the room winced.

"You were lucky," Hephaestus replied moodily.

"Very," Dionysus sulked as he gulped down another diet coke.

"I've had worse though," the centaur said in such a way that caused the others in the room to laugh aloud.

**Foot racing? **

"I'm guessing that's a no go either," Zeus eyed Poseidon, "seeing as we're both too lazy to run from anything."

"Awww," Aphrodite sighed happily, "do I hear the delightful sound of some brother's bonding?"

"Pfft," Poseidon argued playfully, "Never!"

"That's what I thought," Hera grinned and linked her arms with her husband, pleased at his humble comment and effort to connect with his elder brother. _That talk of mine certainly worked after all…_

_Indeed it did, honey_, Zeus smiled down at her as Hades rolled his eyes and continued reading. _One down, one to go…_

**No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods.**

Dionysus coughed and looked around the room innocently.

"Mmm," Demeter mused playfully, noticing his actions, "Dionysus, I wonder who on earth they can be talking about?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," he sighed, then leaned mischievously to mock whisper in her ear, "though, I've heard rumours it's Hephaestus."

"Hey!"

**But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.**

The gods chuckled harmoniously at this, as Apollo added:

"_Slower than a tree_

_Such a humiliating fact_

_You should pity me."_

"You know," Artemis said, "I'm probably going insane, but I think that was pretty good."

"Thanks sis!" Apollo cheered, feeling absolutely delighted.

**And wrestling? **

"Please?" Ares huffed, "with your skinny body?"

"Ares!" Demeter protested.

"What?" he asked innocently, "it's true!"

**Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me. **

"See?" Ares answered, immensely proud with his daughter, "good girl, Clarisse – that's showing him!"

"**There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.**

"I'm so proud!" Ares said, tears shining in his eyes, causing Poseidon and the other's to shake their heads in defeat – there was no way they were going to get _this_ god to change his ways.

**The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, **

"Well, duh!" Dionysus smiled, "you are a son of Poseidon after all."

**and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.**

"But it's a valuable and useful skill to have," Hestia commented, "where I suspect that it will come in handy in the future."

"He really needs to stop caring what everyone else thinks though," Artemis replied, whereupon the room all laughed at her direction. "What?" But they continued to laugh even harder, "what did I say?"

"He's a _teenager_," Hera raised an eyebrow at her, "doesn't that explain everything?"

"Yeah," Aphrodite said, as Artemis continued to look at them blankly, "that's _all _they do is worry and stress about how others see them – geez you really need to start having kids…or at least be around them!"

**I knew the senior campers and counsellors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids,**

"Please," Ares scoffed as Poseidon glared at him, "what? He just doesn't have it in him:-don't blame me!"

**Or as good at archery as the Apollo kids.**

"Yeah," Apollo grinned, "as everyone knows that I'm the best at archery!"

"In your dreams, twin," Artemis snorted, as Hades continued swiftly onwards in attempt to avoid another bloodbath between the two of them.

**I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork**

Hephaestus shrugged sadly, "That's okay. Hardly anyone does these days."

"Darling," Aphrodite sighed at his unhappy tone, "we said we were going to deal with this as soon as we're able too, so try not to worry about it too much: we'll soon put some magic back in the world."

**Or—gods forbid—Dionysus's way with vine plants.**

"Mmm," Dionysus grinned, "so he's seen all the interesting ways I've used them already, has he?"

"Dionysus," Zeus stated calmly towards his son, "at the risk of sounding concerned, but what exactly do you mean by the term interesting? Surely all you do at camp is grow things to harvest, is it not?"

"Oh, nothing much – just this and that," the wine god answered vaguely, winking devilishly at Demeter, as Hades rolled his eyes and moved on.

**Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none.**

"I'd personally love him as my son," Hermes smiled as Poseidon laughed happily.

"So would I," Apollo nodded, "cause he's awesome!"

**But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.**

"I guess that would be depressing," Demeter sighed, "not knowing where you fit in."

"Well," Hades told her sourly, "at least your children get to attend the camp – to have the chance to be safe – which is more than my children."

"I…"Demeter stuttered, feeling suddenly guilty, as, if only for a moment, she saw her brother in a different, positive light than the one she had moulded herself into seeing. However, before she could apologise he had already moved on and the moment was gone.

**Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon,**

"Mmm," Apollo sighed, "strawberries…NO!...Must resist the temptation!..."

**even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nothing came.**

"I'm sure," Poseidon said, although he didn't seem convinced, "that I'm waiting for the right moment, especially since two of my brothers are trying to kill him."

"Yes," Hestia comforted him, "that's probably it."

"How much times do we have to apologise for that?" Zeus groaned to his brother.

"Especially since it was future us that did it," Hades sighed, "and not the present us."

"Just a few more times more I think," Poseidon smiled at them, "just until the message had properly sunk into your heads."

**Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tired not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back…**

"I'm sure there is," Chiron said, "but I'm begging you not to do anything stupid – at least not until you've had proper training."

**I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes.**

Hermes winced.

**So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something?**

"Well we _would_, if we _could_!" Aphrodite stressed, glaring at Zeus angrily, hating that their children were constantly made to think that they didn't care enough about them to visit or even to send word to them.

"I said we'll discuss this, didn't I?" Zeus said, groaning, "what else do you want?"

"A definite promise would be lovely," Dionysus stated, and was swiftly backed up by the others.

"After the books," Zeus stressed, "because for this to be possible we also need the Fates and other elders and gods to have their say and vote, and I know some of them won't be as agreeable to this as others."

"But the majority would agree," Athena said, "I'm sure they will."

"Especially Isis and Nemesis," Demeter felt the need to add, "as I know they especially are desperate for this change, seeing as their children are given such a hard time."

**Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?**

"As Aphrodite said, I _would_, if I _could_." Poseidon sighed, smiling slightly at the boy's attempt to humour.

**Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson.**

"Hopefully with lots of action!" Ares whooped happily, "though, knowing him, he'll probably excel at this."

"Why do you say that?" Hephaestus asked curiously.

"He has the proper body for it," Ares grunted, as Poseidon smiled at the compliment, "and can move suddenly enough to be good at it someday. Plus the sword's flowing motions will connect to his water abilities and I'm sure he'll be…awesome, as Apollo says:- just not as good as Clarisse of course!"

**Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.**

"Woop woop!" Apollo cheered as Hermes laughed at his enthusiasm, "I bet he has awesome skills!" 

"He has," Hermes smiled, trying to act as if everything was normal, "and he's about to show you them!"

**We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armour. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.**

"Told you," Ares sighed happily, pleased his calculations were proving to be correct.

**The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long.**

"A good swordsman can make due with what he is given," Athena reprimanded him.

"True," Chiron said, "but everyone has one weapon that was made perfectly for them: such as Poseidon's trident, and Apollo and Artemis' arrows – where, yes, they can make due with swords and spears, but they wouldn't excel at it in quite the way as their weapon of choice would do."

"Besides," Ares interrupted, his brain on overdrive, "shouldn't Percy be given Anaklusmos: as it's a balanced sword and the usual type of weapon that's given to the children of Poseidon, as it reminds them of the sea and its power?"

"Well," Dionysus answered sarcastically, proving to be more alert than at the last session, "Chiron would except for the tiny little fact that he wants to be sure that he actually is Poseidon's son before he hands it over, as not anyone's allowed to have it you know."

**Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me.**

**We moved on to duelling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.**

"**Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."**

"Well," Zeus commented, "that's a little unfair, isn't it?"

Hermes grinned widely as Poseidon groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"Great," Poseidon sighed, "my son's going to get himself killed, absolutely fantastic!"

"Ow, don't worry, Uncle!" Hermes moved to put his arm around him, "Percy'll be fine! At least this way he gets to train with the best – where he'll probably learn a lot of important things that are sure to help him out!"

"Hermes," Athena sighed, "if you're not worried at all about Percy, then why are you sweating like mad?"

"Um," Hermes said, as he looked down at himself and saw that he was indeed completely drenched, "it's hot in here?"

_Please don't hurt him son, _Hermes begged_, he's just an innocent child_…

"**Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.**

"Please," Ares snorted, "like that will happen."

"You really don't understand yet how the camp works," Hephaestus pitied him, "don't you?"

**The camper snorted.**

"So they even agree with you," Poseidon winced harder towards Ares' direction, "wonderful!"

**Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way.**

"Aw, don't seem so sad about that," Ares consoled him, "the hard way is normally the funnest!"

"In who's world is that true?" Persephone asked sceptically.

"Well…mine of course!"

"Right…"

"Now," Hades growled, "will you please stop interrupting me?"

"But I actually _like_ this chapter!" Ares sighed, but Hades continued to read anyway.

**With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" **_**Whap!**_** "Lunge!" **_**Whap! **_**"Now, back!" **_**Whap!**_

"Ouch," Aphrodite empathised with him, "not only is he getting hurt, but now his perfectly smooth skin is going to be all bruised up and bumpy!"

"He's a guy, Aphro," Ares rolled his eyes towards her, "guys like the challenge, where real guys don't give a damn about how bruised up they get or how bad they look: it's all about winning the fight."

"It's like I don't even know you!" Aphrodite exclaimed, folding her arms together tightly in outrage.

**By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.**

"No!" Hermes sighed playfully, as Poseidon interrupted happily.

"Yes!" he cheered. "Now my son's going to beat yours!"

"Great." Hermes grumbled mockingly, as Ares put his hand on his shoulder sympathetically.

"Don't worry," the war god said, "unlike me, you can't win them all."

**Instantly, I felt better.**

"Hey," Hermes said, "what do you mean, unlike you? Percy won Clarisse too if you remember!"

"Pfft," Ares snorted, "once!"

**Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.**

"Great. Just, great." Hermes mumbled, as Poseidon continued to laugh happily.

"Ow," Poseidon comforted him, "don't worry about Luke, he'll be fine! Percy might actually teach him a thing or two!"

"**Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."**

Poseidon continued to laugh louder. _Yes_, he gloated, _what a perfect way to build up Percy's reputation…_

**Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.**

"Not this time son," Poseidon cheered for him as everyone settled down to watch the fight.

**The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon. **

"That's a good move to teach them." Athena nodded her head in approval, "I'm pleasantly surprised by your son's skills, Hermes, as he seems remarkably adept, with a kind nature too. You must be proud!"

"I am," Hermes smiled slightly, as Hades read onwards.

"**This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."**

"Very kind," Hestia agreed, pleased that the elder boy didn't use his position to purposely make anyone feel down about themselves. "It's nice for him to bond with Percy like this, as it gives the boy to build his confidence and meet others in a comfortable environment."

**He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.**

"**Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until on of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"**

Poseidon smiled in anticipation, already a 100% - well, 99.99999999999999999`% sure – what would happen, as Hermes just sighed once in acceptation.

**I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.**

"Woop woop!" Ares cheered, "he's going all out now!"

**The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right.**

"That's because you need Anaklusmos for your techniques to be truly effective," Chiron sighed, "but you're doing pretty good so far!"

**I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?**

"As a fighter would do in a fight," Ares smiled, "do the most insane thing that you can do to catch the others off guard."

"What about reasoning and well planned strategies?" Athena gasped at her brother, "don't you believe that they count for something?"

"Probably," Ares grinned, "but I personally try to stick to the old fashion ways."

"Barbarian!"

**I tried the disarming manoeuvre.**

**My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.**

_**Clang.**_

"Well done, son," Poseidon congratulated him, feeling immensely proud.

**Luke's sword rattled against the stones.**

**The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.**

**I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."**

"Why is the hell is he apologising?" Dionysus wondered.

"Yeah, he's just defeated the greatest swordsman in over 300 years," Apollo mocked, "shouldn't he be eating some ice cream in celebration?"

"Stupid water." Hermes sighed once, then grinned at Apollo's humour. "Here you go," he said as he conjured a big family sized tub of chocolate chip ice cream for his friend to enjoy.

"Um, thanks!"

"No problem," he smiled, then focused once more on the story.

**For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.**

"**Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"**

"At least he doesn't hold an grudges," Demeter smiled, "good for him."

"Yup," Dionysus grinned at Artemis, "he took that like a real man, didn't he?"

"You-" but she was cut off my a grinning Hades, who moved swiftly on.

**I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted. This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.**

**After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"**

"Nah, Percy just ran out of his super powers," Apollo sighed, happily eating his ice cream.

"Hey," Persephone suggested wickedly, "wouldn't it be funny if they just went for another water break?"

"Oh," Hermes protested, as Poseidon started to laugh again in earnest, "don't you start!"

**Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword…"**

"A lot more damage to your ego, that's for sure," Ares snickered, as Demeter hit him across the head, "ow! What was that for?"

"Unlike you," she started crossly, "he doesn't have an ego!"

"That's what you think!" he smirked.

"Well, yes that's exactly what I think," Demeter glanced at him oddly, "so, even though you're having a good time, just tone it down, okay?"

**Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall.**

"You know, honey," Persephone said to her husband, "we should definitely try that sometime!"

"What?" Hades answered her in confusion, "the climbing wall?"

"Yep," she smiled in excitement.

"The killer climbing wall that tries it's best to kill you," his eyes widened slightly, "that climbing wall?"

"Yep," she repeated, still smiling.

"Why?"

"Well," she laughed at her husbands worry, "you know how I like action courses…and I just think that this is the ultimate one out there : it seems way more harder than Total Wipeout and Takishi's Castle put together! So, can we go?"

Hades could only look at her, feeling overwhelmed, "Uh, I'll, uh, think about it…"

**Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.**

"Well," Zeus said after a while, "it could have been worse."

"Yeah," Ares tried to comfort the sea god, "as he could have been squashed, flattened, burned alive or even fallen to his death – so it's all good!"

"Plus," Aphrodite smiled, "At least now Percy has smoother arms now, so his love life will be a little easier!"

"Uh," Hera interrupted them, seeing that Poseidon's face was starting to go a funny red colour, "I think that'll be enough cheering up for now! Hades, would you please read on?"

**We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving,**

"Why?" Hermes moaned, "that must have been dreadfully boring!"

"But probably horribly addictive," Apollo added, "like watching a marathon or the Grand Prix : I can just imagine it now..," he trailed off as he imagined the scene happening inside his head.

"Okay…" Hades stared at him intently, before reading on. _Why is my family so insane?..._

**until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.**

"Terrible I suspect, "Chiron commented, glancing at the laughing Dionysus that was sitting across from him.

"Yeah," he sighed happily, "how I do love bossing those Satyrs around…"

**His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.**

"How much bossing do you do, exactly?" Hera asked, feeling a little concerned for the Satyrs.

"Oh, not much at all, mam," Dionysus answered her innocently.

"Well," Zeus ordered him, "I'm just confident that we'll see less of this in the future, won't we son?"

"Yes, father," he answered him moodily.

"That's my boy," Zeus grinned, before motioning to Hades to continue.

"**Fine," he said. "Just great."**

"Oh," Hestia said gently, "well that's a bit of good news then."

"Um, sis," Demeter said, "I'm sure he was only being sarcastic."

"_Oh_…"

"**So your career's still on track?"**

**He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"**

"**Well… no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. **

"It's a-" Athena started, but was quickly quietened by the rest of the group.

"Sis, we know," Apollo emphasised, "so let's just carry on!"

"What I think he means by that, niece," Demeter added, scowling at Apollo, "is that seeing as Percy and the Satyr seem close, we'll probably hear the explanation that's given to Percy a little later on in the book, so there's no need for one now."

"Right," Athena smiled sweetly at Demeter, "thanks."

**"He just said you had big plans, you know … and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"**

"Did he heck," Hephaestus snorted and Aphrodite laughed.

"I bet my flying chariot –er, car," Apollo grinned, "that there's no way he got that credit. And if I had Hades' money, I'd bet all of that too!"

"Well," Hades said dryly, "you _don't_ so you _can't._ As of now, the only person that can spend as much of my money as they please is my beautiful wife sitting next to me."

"Aw, Hades," Persephone gushed happily as she rewarded him with a kiss, "then I guess I'd bet it all as there's no way that Dionysus will let him have the credit!"

"You're all so mean to me," Dionysus grinned, throwing yet another diet coke behind his chair and opening a new one, "it's very annoying."

"Well," Hermes said, his voice taking on a very even and reasoning tone, "since you're mean to everyone else, I think it's high time that we start being mean back, don't you?"

**Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."**

"Wow Dionysus, I'm impressed. You were actually _decent_ to someone!" Hera said.

"Don't get used to it." Dionysus replied sourly, "and I just hope that proves that I can be nice sometimes –so stop picking on me!"

"So," mused Hermes, "since Dionysus didn't pass judgment, what happens to the bets now?"

"Well," Hades inserted hurriedly before anyone else could interrupt, "since no decision has been made the bet is automatically cancelled."

"Yes," Apollo agreed, "that seems fair, doesn't it, _mother_?"

"Why," Hera answered, extremely happy that yet another sibling had now recognised her as their mother, "yes, it does! Now, read on, brother."

**My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"**

"_**Blaa-ha-ha!**_** He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest… and even if you did, why would you want **_**me**_** along?**

"Aww," Aphrodite sighed sympathetically, "he doesn't think highly of himself, does he?"

"You should make him one of your top priorities now, darling," Hephaestus smiled, "after we finish the book, seeing as you were going to give him better social skills anyway."

"Good idea, husband!" she grinned, as Hades rolled his eyes at the pair and carried on.

"**Of course I'd want you along!"**

"A very sweet boy," Hestia smiled, though no other comment was made.

**Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving … Must be nice to have a useful skill."**

"Aww," Persephone sighed, "I'm sure you have useful skills inside you: just practice them! After all, it's not like my skills with nature appeared suddenly all by themselves – you have to work hard at developing them too."

**I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods.**

"Cons?" huffed Ares, "we don't have cons!"

"Oh," Athena said, "yes you do! Where ignorance and unreasoning is yours."

"Well," Apollo retaliated, "your is your boring personality and your over analytical mind, as you find it harder to really connect to people than others!"

"At lest that's better than your over-inflated ego and arrogance," stressed Artemis, as Ares gasped allowed.

"Well," Hermes argued, "at least he doesn't go around saying that women are dumb, stupid and evil all day everyday!"

"GUYS!" Hera screamed at them, "WILL YOU BE QUIET THIS INSTANT!"

As they all quietened, Hera once again took her seat, "Now," she said, "everyone here has some positive aspects about themselves as well as some negative ones. So let's just take a breath and move on together, shall we?"

With the room filled with absolute silence, Hades carried on reading.

**Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins**.

"Urgh," Zeus sighed, "here we go again…"

"**Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."**

"You're right," the maiden goddess proclaimed, "I would be!"

"What," Hades said, "like I am you mean?"

Everyone decided to remain silent after that.

"**Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"**

**Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals.**

"No I wouldn't, unlike _some_ people I know." Hera said distastefully, "I much prefer to honour my vows."

**That's her husband's job.**

The room was filled with guilty laughter as Zeus glared at the book in hatred.

"What?" Poseidon grinned at him, "it's true!"

"Not anymore," he vowed, as everyone's laughter got louder.

"Yeah, right," Hermes coughed and even Athena and Demeter laughed. "And how many time's have you said that before?"

"I really mean it this time!" he yelled, as Hera was left not knowing what to think.

**When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."**

"**Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."**

"**Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."**

"**Zeus got the sky," I remembered.**

"Which suits him immensely," Poseidon smiled widely, "seeing as he's always full with hot air."

"Oi!" Zeus pouted, "I'll get you back for that, brother!"

"**Poseidon the sea, **

"Which suits me immensely," Poseidon said before anyone else had a chance to say anything, "as I love the vastness and freedom it possesses."

**Hades the Underworld."**

"And –"

"Let's just read on, shall we?" Hades interrupted him, clearly not wanting to be humiliated.

"And Hades got some piece and quiet time," Persephone finished, "away from all his annoying brother who try their best to pester and tease him."

"Thanks darling," he smiled sweetly at her.

"Anytime," she whispered, kissing him gently.

"So basically," Apollo ranted, "Zeus get's the crown, birds, clouds , and huge metal planes, Hades get dead things, jewels and an army of skeletons and monsters, and Poseidon get's hot chicks, sea food, parties and dolphins! I don't know about you guys but I think Poseidon's got the better end of the stick here!"

Poseidon laughed happily as Zeus and Hades frowned at the young god.

"Hey," Zeus protested, "I get hot …uh, I mean," he amended, seeing his wife sending him stern glances, "my kingdom sounds way better than you're making it out to be: especially as it's so hot up here all the time!"

"Well, brothers," Hades grinned, "I'm glad that you guys have so much variety, but I've got the most glamorous hot chick sitting right here with me!"

"Aw," Persephone giggled, as her face flushed a bright scarlet, "thank you, baby!"

"And that tears it," Hermes announced, "that Hades has officially owned his brothers and has proven that the Underworld is now the best place to go to find a little romance!"

"Ummm," Hades said sheepishly, seeing that Demeter was glaring fiercely at him, "how about if we just read on?"

"**Uh-huh."**

"That's an intelligent answer." Athena scoffed.

"Wait," Ares said, what was the question again?"

"Grover was just confirming that what Percy was saying was right," Artemis rolled her eyes, as Hades swiftly continued.

"**But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."**

Hades just glared at his brother evilly.

"_Later_!" Zeus hissed, as he really didn't want to get into this argument once again.

"**No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either.**

Persephone folded her arms over her chest and intensified her glare at Zeus.

"Later!"

**He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here …" Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."**

"How?" Hades growled, "exactly would it be unpleasant?"

"Well," Demeter added, but Hades ranted onwards.

"Just because my children have some control over the dead doesn't make them evil, or hard or dangerous to be around," he stressed, "not more dangerous than anyone else's anyway, as Zeus' kids can electrocute people! And don't ignore them because you think they look miserable or like trouble figures, as most of them aren't at first, but they're later turned into the image you have of them because no one takes the time to look after them and to treat them properly and normally!"

"He's right you know," Hera sighed and the others agreed, "and I don't see any reasonable excuse for us to keep him and his children from Olympus and at camp."

"You have a point, Uncle," Athena sighed, "where we should have treated your children better in the past. And we will talk about letting you become one again with the Olympian council. But," she added, "what I don't understand is why are you taking an interest in how the camp now treats your children, as you're still under the oath and haven't fathered any children since…?"

"It's still unfair," Hades sighed guiltily, "even if I never have another child."

"He should have a cabin regardless of that fact," Artemis defended him, "to honour him properly."

"Thank you," he nodded simply, as he began to read again.

"**But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"**

"Um," Hermes grinned at the image, "they decided that a bazillion gifted babies was way to much for the world to deal with?"

"In a way," Hera mused, "Yes."

**Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. **

"**About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes.**

"And," Aphrodite grinned, "we all know that this fact didn't stop them for long! Or," she amended, glancing at Hades and a grimacing Zeus and Poseidon, "two of them anyway."

"You should be applauded, Hades," Demeter said, rather stiffly, "for holding out this long."

"Well," Hades returned a little nervously, "I've realised I don't need to sire children with others to make me happy: all I need is this lovely girl right here!"

"Aw," Persephone cheered, "you're spoiling me now!"

"I hear it's good to be spoiled once in a while," Hades whispered softly before reading on.

**Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon,**

"Well," Athena said, "with those odds, no wonder they won."

"But fair play, Hades," Ares grinned, "you did come mighty close to ruling the world on your own there!"

"Let's just never speak of this again, shall we?" Poseidon suggested, as it brought back a lot of bad memories, where a lot of his children suffered injuries or perished. It was no wonder that he felt so emotionally attached to Percy: the first son that he had held safely in his arms in decades. _Nothing will ever happen to him if I can prevent it…._

"I second that motion," Hades shuddered, as nearly all of his children perished in that awful event: _it's no wonder that I'm still so overprotective with them now,_ he thought, _and still so grudgingly angry towards the other two…_

"Motion granted," Zeus sighed, feeling sorrier for Hades all of a sudden even more than himself. _He really did lose a lot, didn't he darling_? He groaned to his wife. _No wonder he was so angry at the two of us when he discovered that we had broken the law and had more children. Was that end result really down to the rest of us ignoring him and his children in such a way?_

_Probably_, she sighed tiredly_, after all, back then you all had so very many children…can you imagine what Hades must have been feeling when you all forbade his children the safety of the camp: where they had no chance to fend for themselves?_

_You were just has bad as the rest of us, he told her cautiously._

_I was probably even worse than you about the situation_, Hera admitted,_ especially since I saw him and his children as unsavoury characters. But my priorities have changed dramatically since then, where we must realise that we have to be more accepting towards him, otherwise his resentment of us will grow and the consequences can be dire._

**made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."**

"Maybe you guys should have added a huge consequences," Hephaestus suggested, "where you all had to suffer it if any of you broke the oath."

"Next time now," Dionysus added cheekily as they all glowered at him.

**Thunder boomed.**

"Ooh," Apollo commented, "someone doesn't like the subject!"

"Shut up, please," Zeus groaned as Hermes laughed at him.

"Well," the messenger god retaliated, "if you eavesdrop on a private conversation, it's your own fault if you don't like what you hear, not theirs!"

"Let's just read on," Hestia smiled as Hades did so swiftly.

**I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."**

**Grover nodded.**

"**And the brothers kept their word—no kids?"**

"Pfft," Artemis snorted, "like that'll happen!"

**Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon.** **There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself.**

"Well," Hera smiled at him, her lips looking a little strained, "as long as you learn to control yourself in future, there should be no further problem."

"I will," he vowed solemnly, though the seriousness of his words were lost in the other's laughter.

**When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia… well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but brought a terrible fate on his daughter."**

Zeus looked down upon his folded hands in shame, as Hera reached up to entwine their hands together.

"**But that isn't fair. It wasn't the little girl's fault."**

"No," Zeus sighed, "it wasn't anyone's fault but mine."

**Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about this girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath.**

"No," Hades said darkly, "I certainly wasn't!"

**Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. **

"But that was no reason to hurt her," Zeus argued, "she was innocent in all of this!"

"I'm sorry," Hades sounded a little more apologetic than earlier.

"I knew you disliked me," Zeus sighed, "but why didn't you strike against me instead of my daughter, seeing that I was the one you were angry at?"

"I was scared," Hades bit his lip, demonstrating that this was indeed a hard topic to be talking about, "that everything would go back to before."

"What would go back, brother?" Hera said softly, as she wasn't used to this softer side of Hades.

He sighed once before continuing, "I'm used to being ignored and treated badly by you brother. After all these years it still hurts like hell, but I'm an adult and I can just about cope with it – as I myself am a ruler of a kingdom with a beautiful wife who _now_ shows me love and respect. But," he stressed, "my children were young and they had nothing – no camp, no help from you – I couldn't even help them because of the stupid rule!

"Well," Hades continued, "in the build up to the war, more and more children were being born, so that meant that more and more of my children were being ignored, and since the monsters tended now to focus on hunting them instead of yours – who were safely at camp – my children were growing desperate. Finally, they decided to take a chance and start the war against your children brothers, in hope that you would either realise that they were your family and would allow them to share your home, or that they'd defeat your children and claim the safety of the camp for their own. The problem was though," Hades sighed, "that my children had fled back to Europe by this time, in hope of escaping the threat of the more dangerous monsters – so you can imagine that they had to exert quite a bit of energy to fight their way back to America once the war had actually started.

"But," Hades closed his eyes in pain, "in the end my children lost, and unlike your children brothers, nearly all of mine were injured and killed for their efforts to make life better for themselves. With this in mind, I saw the oath as a peace treaty between us, and when you broke it, Zeus, I was furious and terrified that you'd allow things to slip back to how they used to be, so I eliminated the threat out of spite, hatred and fear. I regret my actions now of course," he sighed, "as I realise that she indeed was innocent, just like my children, where – like you have constantly done with me – I treated her exactly as I wanted to treat you if I was able to, so I'm sorry."

Everyone just seemed stunned by the god's words, as no one was able to say a word to comfort him or defend them. Sensing that they were speechless, Hades moved swiftly onwards- half embarrassed by his behaviour.

**A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. **

"Annabeth!" Athena cheered proudly, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"Luke!" Hermes smiled.

**They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."**

"No offense," Apollo said, "but I bet she was gutted to have made it all that way for nothing."

"Probably," Zeus sighed, still reeled from his brother's speech, "but relieved at the same time, as she knew her friends weren't going to be killed because of who she was."

**He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters.**

"An extremely brave girl," Athena agreed, "and honourable too, as she willingly gave her life for others."

"I just wish she didn't have to," he muttered sadly.

**She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill.**

"I would have done the same thing," Ares said.

"So would I," Artemis agreed, "especially if I knew that the monsters would never give up trying to kill me: I'm not anyone's pray!"

"So," Demeter tried to reason with them once again, "you can see that the Satyr did try to save her, but he had to think about the others too: so I beg you not to be so hard on him."

"Fine," Zeus answered quietly, as Hades carried on.

**As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into a pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."**

**I stared at the pine in the distance.**

**The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much.**

"At least you're alive," Poseidon whispered, "and that's a cause for celebration in my eyes."

"Besides," Hera said, "we might see Thalia again someday – probably even inside these very books –"

"You think so?" Zeus interrupted.

"It's highly logical in my opinion," Athena replied, "as there are five books here altogether – where I'm convinced that she has to appear in at least one of them."

"Apollo," Artemis called to him, "you're the one with the most knowledge of the future here: do you believe she can return?"

"Who knows," Apollo grinned at her, "but if she does, I bet Thalia and Percy will turn out to be the best of friends!"

"Seriously?" Dionysus raised his eyebrow sceptically.

"Pffy, no!" Apollo scoffed, "knowing who their parents are they'll probably hate each other!"

"Must you shout?" Aphrodite covered her defenceless ears, "You're starting to give me a migraine!"

"Whoops," Apollo apologised, "sorry, Aphro!"

"You will be," she muttered as Hades continued.

**I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?**

"**Grover," I said, "Have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"**

"He just never gives up, does he?" Chiron sighed at the boy's naivety.

"At least you can't fault the boy's determination," Hestia said softly, as Poseidon sighed, as he didn't know what he was going to do about this situation, or what he should feel either.

"Just take your time," he settled for in the end, "don't do anything rash and make sure you have things all planned out," which made Athena smile happily.

"Yes," she agreed, "that is, I think, the best advice you could have given him."

"Thanks," he grinned at her. "Now all the boy has to do is follow it."

"Which he probably won't do," Hermes shook his head, "seeing that he's your son and hates doing what he's told."

"Ah," Poseidon winked at the messenger god mischievously, "but he doesn't know that I've told him to do something, so he won't go against it like he'd do normally, where he will in fact follow it – without him knowing of course!"

"I so love your logic, Uncle," Apollo grinned, as Athena smacked herself in the head

"**Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."**

"Houdini," Ares smiled, "that's a cool guy right there!"

"Wonderfully talented," Hephaestus had to admit.

"And sexy too!" Aphrodite gushed as both men opened their mouths' in surprise.

"WHAT?"

"But he was!" she defended herself as the pair continued to glare at her.

"**And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"**

"**No. Never. Orpheus came close…. Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"**

"**No," I lied.**

"Well," Hermes said, "not only are you an extremely bad liar, but Satyr's can also read your emotion's - so I'm certain that he hasn't bought it."

"**I was just wondering. So … a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"**

"Ah," Hermes sighed in relief, "that's better! When in doubt, change the topic completely!"

"Hermes," Poseidon warned him, "you had better not be thinking about teaching my son deceit…"

"I'd never dream of it, Uncle," he lied so smoothly that even Poseidon began to doubt himself. "What do you take me for?"

"I'm sorry," Poseidon said, his head was full of confusion.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hermes grinned innocently, as Apollo and Athena were struggling not to laugh, "I forgive you!"

As Poseidon was still trying to work out what was going on, Ares himself looked his nose down at the sea god.

"You have some nerve," he shook his head in disappointment, as the others were snickering openly at him. "How could you?"

**Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."**

"**And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."**

"That's because you are." Chiron said, "a child of the Big Three, that is."

**Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't… Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you **_**were**_**—you know—you'd never **_**ever**_** be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes.**

"Ouch!" Poseidon grinned as Hermes looked outraged.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" the god fumed, as Apollo tried to calm him down.

"He probably just means to say that he thinks Percy's an average demigod," Athena told him gently, "in attempt to calm him down, and to also reassure himself slightly: as you know he really needs Percy to go on a mission to get his license."

"Yeah," Demeter agreed, "I'm certain he didn't mean it to sound insulting at all!"

"Lack of social skills," Aphrodite smiled at the messenger god, who grinned back towards her, "remember?"

"Yeah," he chuckled slightly, as Hades read on.

**Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. **

"Haha," Zeus rolled his eyes, "does the Satyr know that she'd have a fit if she'd have heard that?"

"She'd never have forgiven him anyway," Hera sighed, "and would have probably made his life a misery."

"Remind me never to do anything bad towards her," Ares shuddered as Persephone frowned at his comment.

"But you already have," Hades replied.

"Have I?" Ares gulped, "I don't remember it…"

"It was when you were drunk," Persephone prompted. "I can't remember what exactly it was that you did wrong, but it must have been pretty big as you're high up on her hit list-"

"Second last time I checked, wasn't it?" Hades checked with her, "straight after Zeus."

"What?" Zeus interrupted, suddenly more interested in the conversation. "What have I done?"

"Well," Hades raised his eyebrows in confusion, as if the answer was perfectly obvious, "You're stopping her from properly looking after her children, you deny her a proper place on the Olympian council and you deny her and her children a place in camp: why wouldn't you be first on her hit list?"

As Zeus stuttered and failed to provide an answer, Hades picked up the book once again and read onwards.

**Don't worry, okay?"**

**I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me. That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.**

"What for again?" Hephaestus asked, as he tending to focus lately more and more on his wife and not enough on this book.

"Why," Chiron answered, "capture the flag of course!"

"What else?" Ares answered, "I've been looking forward to this for ages! Should be good too!"

**At last, it was time for capture the flag.**

"Yep," Dionysus yawned, "should be a lot of action for you."

"If you reckon it's going to be good," Athena wondered, "then why are you yawning and looking like you couldn't care less?"

"Do you know how many games of Capture the Flag I've been forced to watch in that blasted camp?"

"Too much?" Apollo grinned innocently, remembering his and Hermes' earlier conversation.

"I'm not going to even dignify that with an answer," Dionysus sniffed, as everyone quickly drew their attention back to the book.

**When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.**

**Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.**

"Aah," Athena gloated, "my children in all their glory!"

**From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.**

"Come on, kids!" Ares shouted at them, "just do your best and pulverise them!"

"Alright," Hermes cheered, "so it's just an old fashion game of brain versus brawn!"

"Which I save seen happening about 57 times now," groaned Dionysus. "When will it be time for them to say enough's enough?"

"Come on, Dionysus," Chiron sighed at the god's lack of enthusiasm, "the children do this for fun, not a chore: so start being more supportive!"

"Fine, fine," he muttered, as Hades read on.

**I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"**

"Well," Artemis said, "obviously! What else would they be?"

"Mmm," Apollo thought for a moment, "giant pieces of triangle cheese on sticks?"

"Brother," the maiden goddess sighed, "must you connect everything you see and hear to food?"

"Yup," he grinned happily. "My dream goal would is to be titled the _Lord of Food."_

"Then keep dreaming, bruv," Hermes grinned, "because it's never going to happen."

"It will," Apollo stressed, "and I plan to!"

"**Yeah."**

"**Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"**

"**Not always," he said. "But often."**

"**So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do—repaint the flag?"**

**He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."**

"**Whose side are we on?"**

"Mmm," Hermes thought about it for a minute, "well, if I had to choose, I'd personally go with Athena's cabin for this one – no offense Ares! – because of Luke and Percy's connection to Annabeth."

"That's fine," Ares pouted sourly like a four year old as Athena held her head up high with pride, "it's not like we're close friend's or anything!"

"I'll make it up to you," Hermes promised him, his eyes widening in earnest.

"You'd better!" he growled as Hades moved onwards.

**He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And **_**you**_** are going to help."**

"Good choice," Hermes said dully, as the latest description of his son left him no longer caring about the stupid game.

**The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins.**

"Woop woop," Apollo cheered, chuffed to discover himself in the same team as his BF. "We're so going to win!"

"Let's hope so," Athena grinned, in temporary agreement with her absent-minded brother.

**Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support.**

**Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.**

"You know," Poseidon warned his son, "you really shouldn't underestimate anyone here son, even when you get to know them better, as you'll never guess what some of them will have up their sleeves sometimes."

"Yeah," Ares grumbled, "like his sneaky water trick!"

"Exactly!" he grinned. "Where he won simply because he was underestimated!"

"Yeah," Aphrodite answered fiercely, "don't knock my children until you've seen what they can do in action!"

**Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem.**

Hephaestus smiled proudly, "they'll easily destroy you if you get in their way – so I suggest you don't!"

**That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.**

"And each and every one of them is out to get you, pipsqueak," Ares chuckled darkly, "just remember that!"

"Ares," Demeter chided him sternly, "would you calm down a bit? It's only a game you know!"

**Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. **

"**Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed.**

"Aww." Ares whined.

"Ares!" Hera gasped at her son furiously.

"Oh relax!" he slumped, "I was just kidding!"

"Well," Artemis rolled her eyes, "there's no telling with you, isn't there?"

**I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"**

**He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox hide shields coated in metal.**

"Can't wait now!" Apollo grinned excitedly.

"Should be awesome, as you would say," Athena nodded her head, as she wondered which weapons her children would have chosen, and what plan of action that they were planning on taking.

"Okay," Hermes shuddered, "you two getting along for once is officially frightening me now, so let's just get this over with!"

"**Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"**

"Well," Dionysus just stared at the book, "not unless you're feeling suicidal of course, you moron!"

"I just still can't believe he hasn't properly understood what's going on here," Hephaestus sighed.

"After this fight," Poseidon added in the boy's defence, "I'm sure that everything will properly sink in."

"It better," Zeus sighed, though he was as excited about the upcoming fighting scene as just about anyone else in the room. " Now read on, Hades."

**Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five.**

Friendly laughter erupted the room, as Hades read onwards.

**Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."**

"Border patrol?" Poseidon said lamely, "that's it?"

"Why?" Hermes wondered, "even I know that there's a way better spot for him to be had than that!"

"Just trust in my daughter," Athena said softly, "if I know her as well as I think I do, what happens next is going to be spectacular."

**My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. **

"Now why would you give him a clearly oversized shield?" Zeus wondered, as everyone shook their head in puzzlement.

"Maybe I was more worried about him being properly protected for his first game than him being active in it," Chiron suggested, where everyone shrugged and accepted the explanation.

**My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"**

**We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment.**

"**Hey."**

"I wonder what he wants?" Persephone mused.

"Um," Dionysus looked at her oddly, "what the actual plan is, obviously!"

"And probably what he's supposed to be doing and where he's supposed to stand," Ares rolled his eyes at her, as her skin flushed a deeper red.

"Um, thanks," she said simply, whereupon Hades embraced her tightly and whispered a few words of comfort into her ear before continuing.

**She kept marching.**

"Well," Hera commented, "that _is_ a little rude…"

"Don't worry about it," Athena dismissed the goddesses comment, "she's trying to concentrate on the fight at hand, not answer some silly boy's question!"

"**So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"**

"Well," Hera smirked a little comically, "he's simply asking what the plan actually is! Surely she'd have told everyone by now, as the fight's _just _about to start!"

**Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something.**

"Aww," Hermes smiled happily, "don't be like that! He's not even my son!"

"Thank us for that!" Aphrodite winked at him, "as I'm getting quite tired of being surrounded by jokers: we definitely need more sweet and kind guys around here!"

"Like my Hades, you mean?" Persephone grinned, as the others just stared at her.

"Yeah…" Aphrodite's voice lost a lot of his enthusiasm, "that's exactly what I mean…"

"**Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"**

"**Border patrol, whatever that means."**

"**It's easy. Stand by the creek,**

"Ha ha!" Poseidon cheered, "Look's like my son's set to win again!"

"Yes!" Athena applauded her daughter, "what clever thinking! Well done Annabeth!"

"Great," Ares slumped forward into his seat, "fantastic!"

**keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."**

"I always do at that," she sang proudly, now immensely happy.

**She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.**

"**Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."**

**It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.**

**Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot.**

"You probably looked like one too," Dionysus agreed, as the others chuckled softly.

**The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.** **There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?**

"Not quite," Chiron winced, as the others continued to chuckle.

"Boy is he in for a surprise!" Zeus smiled, as Hestia scowled at him.

"You guys really should be nicer to everyone, you know?" she said, but the others took no notice of her as Hades continued onwards.

**Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.**

Apollo laughed a little at that. "That was probably Daniel."

"Now," Artemis narrowed his eyes at him, "how do you figure that?"

"Dunno," he answered honestly, "it just sounds like something Daniel would do!"

**Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual.**

"Don't you dare let your guard down!" Athena warned him.

"And don't worry about missing all the fun," Ares consoled him, "because – since this story's all about you – I think the fun's soon about to be finding its way back to you!"

**Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.**

"A canine growl?" Hades repeated instantly, feeling suddenly wary.

"Please tell me that it's just a dog," Poseidon pleaded as he started to close his eyes.

"Most probably a hell-hound," Demeter sighed sadly, as Poseidon's worried eyes turned swiftly to glares.

"Hades!"

"I'm sorry!"

**I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling some thing was stalking me.**

"Well," Chiron assessed the situation, "he's already reacted to the threat, and since that there's so many experienced campers near him I'm certain that he'll be fine."

**Then the growling stopped.**

"Huh?" Ares said in confusion.

"That's good, isn't it?" Persephone asked Hades. "Does that mean it's going?"

"I'm not sure," he answered her softly, as he quickly read on.

**I felt the presence retreating.**

"Oddly enough," the sea god sighed, "that doesn't make me feel better."

**On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.**

"**Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.**

"Whoa!" Hermes jumped out of his chair, "that was creepy!"

"Go, Clarisse!" Ares urged, as the others rolled their eyes at him.

"There's possibly a monster loose in camp," Demeter chided him, "and your only concern is whether Clarisse can get her own back on Percy?"

"Well," Ares started, but Hades had heard enough and swiftly moved the group onwards.

**Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made me feel any better.**

**They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.**

"Run!" Hestia and Demeter yelled, "it's not worth it!"

"Fight, you coward!" Ares shouted at him, where Athena swiftly backed him up with, "you can do it!"

That left the left of the council torn about what they wanted the outcome to be…

**I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid as the Minotaur.**

"No," Hermes agreed playfully, "they definitely aren't as stupid as the minotaur! But they aren't that smarter either!"

"I agree," Apollo jumped swiftly in, "where I believe they are smarter than the minotaur, but only by a few brain cells, at best!"

"Oi!"

**They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.**

"An electric spear?" Zeus' eyes widened. "That's kind of cool, actually!"

"Too right it is!" the war god cheered as he raised his arms high in the air. "Go, Clarisse!"

**Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric. I fell back.**

**Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.**

"Woop woop!" Ares grunted as Poseidon continued to glare daggers at him, "now the fight's _really_ getting started!"

**They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.**

Athena suddenly gave Ares a triumphant grin, whereupon his face flooded with uncertainty.

"Why are you looking like that for?" he asked suspiciously. "You're losing!"

"The first rule of fighting is never take time out to gloat when you can finish a person off, otherwise it'll seriously come back to haunt you!"

"Pfft," he snorted, "not this time! Now it's time for some payback!"

"Suit yourself!" she sang as Hades began reading once again.

"**Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."**

"Now," Aphrodite glowered at Ares, "it's one thing to get him back in a fight, but to mess with his complexion: that's just plain mean!"

"Oh," Ares sighed at her, "just give it a rest okay! Not everything in this world is about how you look – so just back off Barbie!"

Aphrodite simply stared at him, feeling completely mortified. "Are _you_ breaking up with _me?_"

"What?" Ares just asked her, feeling a little agitated with all these questions being asked off him: especially when he had so much adrenalin running currently through his system in consequence of the fight. "Whatever! Look, darling, can we deal with this later – like after the fight?"

"Whatever you say, babe," she scowled at him, tears running down her face as she sat down silently. _Seeing as there will never be a later!_

Hephaestus silently and awkwardly gave his wife a box of tissues and some of her finest makeup that was held together in a small but cute travel pack. In discovering its contents, her face lit up once again as her eyes met his.

"Just ignore the idiot," he smiled at her gently, "you know he doesn't know what he's saying half the time."

"T-thank you," she stuttered as she immediately began re-applying her makeup on with vigorous force.

**I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb. **

"**Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."**

"Just you wait and see," Poseidon said grimly, "he's soon going to make you choke on your words."

"**The flag is that way," I told her. **

"You idiot!" Athena chastised him angrily, "you never give away its position – never! Not even under extreme torture!"

"Ha ha, go easy on him sis," Apollo shushed her in his usual layed back self, "he's just a kid! Now," he admitted, "if the boy was me, not only would I have given away my flag's position long before now, but I would have gone and got it for them – anything to stop them from beating up my poor but beautiful body!"

"You're an idiot Apollo," Aphrodite laughed at him, "you know that, don't you?"

"Sure I do," he grinned gently at her, "but I cheered you up a bit, didn't I?"

**I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.**

"**Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."**

"Yeah, you tell him!" Ares urged him.

"Well," Poseidon grinned happily before saying, "I reckon he's about to do it again, don't you think so guys?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Hermes said grinning happily.

"Most probably," Artemis agreed, feeling more than a little glad that her hunters weren't there to be a part of the mess that was swiftly unfolding.

"**You do that without my help," I told them.**

"Owww," Apollo laughed at Ares' misfortune, "he's owned you again, dude!"

"Don't worry about it," Ares said clearly, "As I think that his luck's about to run out!"

Poseidon just grinned in happiness and anticipation. _I wouldn't be too sure…_

**It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.**

"No," Dionysus laughed, "it really wasn't!"

"But at least it was the funniest thing he could have said," Hermes said, "so he gets credit for trying!"

"Credit for trying to do what exactly?" Athena asked him, as Hermes and Apollo shrugged at one another.

"I have no idea," Hermes admitted, "but it sounded good to say, so I said it."

**Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek,**

"I have the feeling that the fight's about to reach its climax!" Chiron and Zeus cheered as the others simultaneously agreed.

"Whatever happens," Artemis said, "it should be good!"

**Tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armoured breastplate, I would've been shish-kebabbed.**

"Ouch!" Poseidon glared at Ares and Chiron. "I thought you said that they weren't allowed to maim each other?"

"Yes, well," Chiron composed himself nervously, "sometimes these fights do tend to get out of hand, where I do try to punish the one's that are responsible…"

"Then you obviously need to try harder," Poseidon ordered him, "to make sure that all the campers follow the rules _to the letter_ from now on."

**As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabin mates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.**

"Well, yes," the centaur agreed gravely, "the 'No Maiming Rule' does need to be carried out more often in particular…"

"Oh, gee! You think?" Persephone expressed loudly, feeling so much empathy for the boy at this moment.

**Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time.**

"WIMP!" Ares shouted, "come on and fight to your best ability: so that I can prove once and for all that that first fight was a fluke! Come on!"

"Ares!" Poseidon hissed at his nephew darkly. "I have had it with your attitude! One more vulgar outburst like that and I swear that I'll inflict so much damage upon you that you'll be begging me to send you to Tartarus for a relaxing holiday!" Ares gulped nervously at that, where he made a supreme effort now to keep himself in check. "Now just wise up, for once, and give your old Uncle a break for once, will you?"

"**No maiming," I managed to say.**

"**Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."**

"I know that we've discussed this issue already," Demeter said, "but is that all you do to punish the individuals who break such a serious rule?"

"Um," Chiron started, but was hastily interrupted by a surprised Apollo.

"What do you mean that that's not a harsh punishment?" he exclaimed. "It's bloody awful! Dessert time is the absolute best time of the day! It's the reason I get up in the morning!"

"Okay…"

**He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash.**

"Now he's in for it!" Athena clapped delightedly, acting like an immature schoolgirl, as Poseidon laughed right along with her –pleasantly surprised to see this side of her emerge.

**They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.**

"Mmm," Apollo moaned, "Poseidon? Why does your son decide to torture me like this with all his different mentions of food?"

"Who knows," Poseidon mused, "maybe he loves it just as much as you, so he's always mentioning it subconsciously?"

"Nah," Apollo dismissed, "I seriously doubt that's even possible! He's just probably just trying to annoy me."

**Clarisse and her cabin mates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.**

Ares groaned in defeat, where he slumped backwards in his chair. _Stupid Percy and his stupid …underwater…f-fishy powers!_

**Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.**

"DON'T say a word," Poseidon warned the war god, as he looks increasingly like a volcano that was about to have a major eruption. "Just read, Hades."

"**Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"**

"What an unusual and pathetic curse!" Artemis snorted, which angered Ares even more.

"Yeah, I mean," Hephaestus joked, "how the hell would she know what a dead worm's breath smelt like?"

"Way to ruin the point, Sherlock," Apollo shook his head at the god's explanation as Hades just read on.

_This reading business is really not much fun,_ he sighed to himself tiredly. _I can't wait to be rid of this task…_

**She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.**

"Your son's amazing," Persephone cheered, as the others nodded in agreement.

**Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high.**

"GO LUKE GO!" Hermes, Apollo, Athena and Poseidon yelled as the others just shook their heads at them in disbelief and amazement.

**He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollo's behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. **

"Woop woop!" Apollo cheered, "look at our kids go!"

"I thought that you didn't want to take this game that seriously," Artemis and Hestia smiled at the lot of them, as they had the grace to look sheepishly.

"We do," Athena answered reasonably, "where, we're showing the proper level of enthusiasm that's needed for this sport, just like other fans do for the games they love."

"Yeah," Hermes agreed, "after all, it's not like we're going over the top and trying insult and kill Ares and the others here just because they're in the opposite team now, are we?"

**The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.**

"**A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."**

"I'm guessing that this is what Annabeth had planned all along then," Chiron commented in Athena's direction.

"I'd be highly surprised if it wasn't," she responded, her radiant smile still dominant on her face. "Wasn't it just spectacular?"

"The work of a true genius," the centaur smiled at her, as Hades moved on, now desperate to finish the chapter to have a well needed and deserved break in the company of his darling wife.

**They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven.**

Hermes smiled proudly at the wonderful sight. M_aybe that there's some hope for him after all…_

**Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.**

**The game was over. We'd won.**

"Three cheers for Luke!" Apollo yelled, "Hip hip-"

Total silence awaited him.

"Well," Apollo folded his arms crossly, "thanks a lot for showing one of our children some support people!"

"Will you shut up," Zeus sighed, "we want to hear how the chapter ends!"

"Urgh," he sighed to himself, "you guys make me feel so wanted…"

**I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."**

**I looked, but she wasn't there.**

"Huh?" Aphrodite's eyes scrunched up slightly to show her confusion.

"Oh, clever girl," Athena giggled, "she's wearing the invisibility device that I gave her just recently!"

"Well," Artemis smiled, "lucky her, I guess."

"**Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked.**

"Um," Hermes suggested, "the water made him do it?"

**The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.**

**I felt myself getting angry. **

"Well," Poseidon defended him, "I'm getting a little angry myself too, seeing as your daughter can never be bothered to answer his questions clearly!"

"Well," Athena responded, feeling hurt, outraged, and for some reason betrayed, "At least unlike your son, she can use her brain to work out exactly what's happening around her, rather than having to rely on the help of others!"

"Guys, guys!" Hestia quickly put a stop to this. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion: so please don't spoil it for the rest of us!"

"Fine," the both of them sulked, whereupon the others laughed at their immaturity.

**I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. **

"Oh," Hera smiled at her husband, "that's new!"

"See," Poseidon smiled slightly, "I told you that he was capable of learning."

"Quite," Hera grinned, as Hades read on.

**"You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."**

**Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always has a plan."**

"Yes, well," Persephone said, "it was nice that they won the battle, but not at the cost of the boy's health and well-being: especially when Percy's new to camp life and untrained!"

"Yes," Hades agreed with his wife. "You must admit, Athena, that her actions weren't morally correct.,,"

"Maybe," she answered rather stiffly, "but it's done now, and I do not see the point in continuing this discussion any further."

"Fine," Hades huffed at her, "after all,_ little miss can't be wrong_…"

"**A plan to get me pulverized."**

"**I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but …" She shrugged. "You didn't need help."**

**Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"**

"Um," Apollo raised his eyebrows, "a sword did, duh!"

"**Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"**

"**No. It **_**was**_** a sword cut. Look at it."**

**The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.**

There was a chorus of, "Cool.", "Wow.", and "Awesome!" heard throughout the room.

"Ah," Poseidon smiled warmly, "the benefit of being my children."

"**I—I don't get it," I said.**

"No surprise there." Athena snorted, which caused everyone in the room to roll their eyes at the pair.

_Honestly,_ Hera groaned to her husband as she glanced at the both of them. _Will they ever learn?_

_Nope!_

_You're no help, _she laughed at him tenderly, as they once again entwined their hands together tightly_. _

_But you love me anyway, darling!_

_I sure do, _she smiled sweetly, as Hades read on.

**Annabeth was thinking hard.**

**I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."**

"She's finally figured it out," Dionysus rolled his eyes, "Hallelujah!"

"**What—"**

"Oh," Athena sighed at the wine god, "don't be so negative all the time: especially since she was the first one at camp to figure it out!"

"Whatever…"

"**Just do it."**

**I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.**

"Oh, I do hope he'll be alright." Hestia said worriedly, where Poseidon moved in hastily to comfort her.

"Don't worry sis," he promised, "he'll be alright. His body just needs time to adjust and heal itself, that's all."

"**Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is **_**not**_** good. I didn't want… I assumed it would be Zeus…"**

"Oh, come on!" Zeus moaned, "why does everyone assume that any child that's labelled to be one of the 'Big Three' is automatically mine?"

"Well," Demeter answered him honestly, causing Hera to shake her head in exasperation, "because for the simple reason because most of the time _it is_ you!"

**Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.**

"Again, how the hell did a hell-hound make it passed the camp borderies?" Artemis wondered aloud.

"Well," Chiron reasoned, "as I highly doubt that it was brought in to camp by me or Dionysus for demonstrations, the only other possible explanation is that-"

"Somebody summoned it from inside the camp," Zeus finished, "most likely to go after Percy for the same reason that the other monsters have."

"But who at camp would do such a thing?" Hestia sighed, as she couldn't imagine any one of those little dears doing such a cruel thing.

"Who knows," Athena said, "Only time will tell- so I suggest that we just read on, as we'll find out sooner or later."

**The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "**_**Stand ready! My bow!**_**"**

**Annabeth drew her sword.**

**There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.**

"I seriously would advise you to run now," Ares said simply, which stunned Demeter somewhat.

"Don't you usually hate people who choose to run away from a battle?" she asked him in puzzlement.

"Usually," Ares agreed, "as usually there's something that person can do –even if they only have a small chance of success- to win: so what's the point in running from that? But this is different, as there's absolutely no way that he can win this, so, as he's feeling incredibly week, I just feel that there's no shame in running from the danger now."

"Wow, Ares!" Apollo cheered, as he went to hug him tightly, "you can be nice after all!"

"Yeah," Hermes went to high-five him, "you certainly surprised us alright!"

**It was looking straight at me.**

**Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"**

"Good." Athena said nodding, as Poseidon was left crossing his fingers and sweating nervously. _Please be okay…_

**She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armour, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.**

"Thank us for my children!" Apollo sighed happily, "oh," he added, seeing Chiron looking sceptically at him, "and you, of course!"

"That was too close," Poseidon groaned as he wiped his forehead, "though I guess I should thank your daughter for trying to defend him: she was highly courageous and you should be very proud of her."

"Uh, thank you," she replied, stunned by the sea gods behaviour- as you never could really tell when he was going to laugh with you or shout at you until it was too late to stop it.

**By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armour. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.**

"Urgh," Hephaestus and Aphrodite replied in disgust, "this is so not the time to be making jokes!"

**Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.**

"_**Di immortales!**_**" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't… they're not supposed to…"**

"**Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp." **

"Nothing we haven't already figured out yet," Demeter sighed, along with a few others.

"Please don't let it be any of the campers," Hestia prayed, "I don't think I could stand that."

**Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.**

"That's ...seriously depressing," Athena agreed as Apollo and Hermes slumped back into their seats tiredly.

"Very!" they agreed unanimously, as Hades continued.

**Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"**

"Oh," huffed Poseidon, "how the hell could he have done that?"

"He didn't even know what a hell-hound was until a few seconds ago," Apollo shook his head at a gloomy Ares, "so how could he have summoned it?"

"Plus," Athena smiled, "although the boy can be a little idiotic at times, he'd have to be insanely stupid to send one of them after himself – so, on the whole Ares, I think that your daughter might be a little bit of a sore loser, don't you?"

"Let's just read on, shall we?" the god said meekly, seeing as he didn't think he could take much more bad news.

"**Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.**

**We watched the body of the hellhound melt into the shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.**

"**You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."**

"Ah, young love," Aphrodite said dreamily, which immediately brought up Athena's complaints.

"Please," she scoffed rather hotly, "she's just being sensible!"

"Right….." the love goddess winked suggestively at her, which caused her temper to rise even more.

"**I'm okay."**

"You can barely walk," Artemis sighed, "so stop trying to act strong and tough and do what the girl's telling you to do – as I'm sure it'll make you feel loads better afterwards!"

"**No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."**

**I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.**

**Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.**

"It is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Poseidon gloated heavily at his moment in the spotlight as the others just rolled their eyes at him.

"**Look, I—I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry…"**

"Ow, quit apologising," Hermes sighed, "you haven't done anything wrong!"

"Yet," Dionysus added innocently, as Poseidon turned to scowl at him.

**But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.**

"**Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um …"**

**By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.**

"Hurrah!" Apollo celebrated, "he has been claimed at last!"

"Yes!" Hermes grinned, "now there's a little more room in my cabin for the rest of the kids: _I am so happy!"_

"Why did you pick this moment then?" Apollo asked, trying to make conversation.

"Well, why not?" Poseidon answered, "I couldn't hide the secret anymore to try to stop any more threats from coming after him, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity."

"**Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is **_**really**_** not good."**

"**It is determined," Chiron announced.**

**All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.**

"Please," Hephaestus said, "why would they? I'd probably be furiously humiliated if I was them: and probably out for revenge too!"

"**My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.**

"Your father." Poseidon confirmed, smiling proudly at the image of his son.

"**Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Hades said happily as he put the book down on the floor with a hard thump.

"You sure like dramatic entrances, don't you?" Persephone asked Poseidon, who was still grinning madly from ear to ear.

"Can we go for a break now, please?" Hades asked his brother, who nodded his approval.

"Just make sure you're back on time," Zeus ordered, "as this is the last reading we'll have today before we retire for the night."

_**(A.N. Ahhhhh, I'm done at last! – you have no idea how tiring it is to write this amount in each chapter as well as having to balance things in the real world : it's hard, let me tell you! Ah, well, I said I'll finish it and finish it I shall!**_

_**Hope you guys liked it! Just remember if you want to ask me something, or comment on anything, just let me know in your reviews or PM. Thanks for everything guys, and I'll see you roughly in 1-2 weeks, as I said before…**_

_**T.T.F.N)**_

_**P.s. I've just seen the word count= no wonder I'm so tired! You guys really are spoiled **_


	12. Quest Zest and Major Heart Problems

_**(A.N Firstly I'd like to thank you guys that have been following this story and reviewing – always something that cheers me up in these dark times. **_

_**Sorry for being absent for so long, revision for my exams was harder than I thought it would. On the bright side, they're over and now I can spend more time on writing this fanfiction. Right, the Minnie story for today focuses on Aphrodite and what she's been through so far.**_

_**So here goes! Without further a due,**_

_**Enjoy!)**_

**Chapter 12 = Quest Zest and Major Heart Problems**

(The scene takes place in one of Hermes' game rooms, where Hermes has challenged Apollo to a game of air hockey. Ares is sitting on the couch next to them, looking miserable and not remembering the cause.)

"Dude," Hermes stressed at him, "you have got to cheer up!"

"Yeah," Apollo agreed as he wacked his puck slyly straight into Hermes unguarded goal. "Yes – I win!"

"You cheat," Hermes sighed as they picked up some cocktails as they went to sit down by Ares, "you always cheat."

"I never cheat," Apollo protested, as he reached for another cookie of the buffet table, "you just have a low concentration span."

"You're one to talk," the messenger god scoffed, "seeing as it's normally you who-"

"Guys, guys!" Ares interrupted them, "can we get back to me now?"

"Sorry," they both replied automatically.

"So what's bugging you?" Hermes said, turning his head to the troubled god.

"I can't remember," he sighed, "but I feel terrible."

"Maybe all this reading is finally getting to you," Apollo said, wrapping his arms around the war god in comfort, "after all, you haven't done any reading at all since….well, ever. It must be taking it's toile on you."

"Hey!" Ares protested in outrage as Hermes stifled a giggle, "I resent that! I can read perfectly well thank you very much. No," he said calmly, "it's got to be something else."

"Well," Hermes hesitated reasonably, "it could be because of your break-up with Aphro."

"WHAT!" Ares screeched so highly it forced the others to cover their ears quickly. "Break-up? When? What are you going on about?"

"Um," Apollo paused, looking at Hermes in uncertainty of how to handle the situation.

"Don't you remember?" Hermes said gently, as Ares got to his feet and started pacing the length of the room. "In the fighting scene of the last chapter: you were obnoxiously mean towards her, where, when she asked if you were dumping her, you sort of..blew her off…"

"I've got to fix this," he muttered under his breath as he headed hurriedly towards the exit, leaving Hermes and Apollo where they were: sitting on the couch with appetisers in their hands and staring at each other.

"So," Apollo said after a few moments of silence "what do you want to do now?"

"Go and annoy Dionysus some more?" Hermes suggested innocently. "After all, we haven't annoyed him quite enough today."

"Good idea, "Apollo laughed as they went to get their brand new vehicles Hephaestus had made for them that day, "after all, we don't want him thinking we've gone soft, do we?"

"We most certainly do not…"

….

..

(The next scene takes place in Aphrodite's private chambers.)

_Mmm_, she sighed peacefully as the exclusively new massager spirit Hephaestus had invented for her and her only invisibly massaged her temples- successfully making every single problem shrink and vanish before her eyes. _This is the life! Who needs Ares, _she smiled_, when I've got all these pampering tools here at my disposal to make my life complete?_

As the spirit finished its miraculous work, the love goddess moved swiftly to her vanity section of her private chamber – not desiring this time to explore and rummage through the vastness of the three or four vanity floors that occupied her palace. Besides, she grinned, she kept the majority of her favourite accessories and make-up right here in her bedroom – to cheer up on the days where she almost couldn't face getting up out of bed.

_Gold_, she decided at last_, -with bright flashes of yellow mixed in: that should brighten up my mood…and everyone who'll see me_! As she applied her make-up precisely, her mind once again began thinking back to the numerous events that happened that day.

_For one_, she began_, I just can't get over the epic love I feel from Poseidon and Sally's bond: it's so refreshing and wonderful to feel! As soon as I see that Sally survives this ordeal unharmed I'll begin planning immediately on ways to get these two people together again. _

_I don't think Zeus will care much_, she giggled as glittery powder was suddenly flung everywhere, _seeing as how he's suddenly gone heads over heals back in love with Hera-wow, I never would have guessed he had it in him! I'll have to work doubly hard to make sure he sticks to his vows this time around though, so that he doesn't lose this second chance at harmonious love_.

_Ooooh! And then there's Hades and Persephone finally settling down and remaking their lives around each other…Demeter had better not screw it up! Especially since I'm pretty sure that they'll be the first to have a child together after all this reading!_

She thought about it for a second. _Maybe_, she ventured, _if I find her a man, that will curb her loathsome attitude and make her nicer to everyone, especially to poor old Hades (how he's stopped himself from sending his armies after her ill never know…)_ Her heart beat increased rapidly in excitement. _But, it just can't be any man_, she mused, _or it can't be someone with a similar personality…_. _No_, she shook her head quickly, _it must be her opposite, as only then will she be able to learn to love properly and to start to change her negative ways. _

_I can't wait until we finish the book and I can begin the hunt! _

_Speaking of hunt_, she grinned wickedly, Artemis _is taking a liking to that Percy boy—though she'll never admit to it yet…or ever….but it's a sign that she's thinking of men – well boys, anyway – in a more positive light. There just might be hope for her after all!_

Her smile faltered suddenly. _Athena on the other hand still has a long way to go on the subject of finding and then accepting her perfect match, but I won't give up! After all,_ she reasoned, _her pride and sense of superiority has to lessen sometime, right? At least her daughter's showing more of an interest in men- and I must admit, the two candidates she's chosen for love are some of the finest candidates to be had! She could even teach my children a thing or two, that's for sure! But I can honestly not guess which one she'll end up with…Percy's her total opposite, but Luke's foreknowledge about her and his charisma just might win over that. She sighed, as she finished with her face and moved onto re-styling her hair, only time will tell…_

_And that concludes_, she sang, _that everyone's getting all "lovey-dovey" on Mount Olympus…except me, that is_. Her smile vanished slightly. _Now that's highly ironic isn't it? How could Ares do that to –no_! She shook her head fiercely, her curls bobbing around her shoulders. _I'm not going to think about that! But at least Hephaestus as been nicer to me lately…I can't remember Ares ever devoting as much time to me as…-no! I will not think about him! I will treat him as if he's turned invisible…_

"Hey!" hollered an angry sounding voice as the doors to her bedroom exploded open.

"Ares?" Aphrodite's eyebrows were raised high in surprise, which was followed swiftly by outrage as he strode inside and wrapped his arms around her. " How dare you be here? You know I hardly allow anyone in here, and especially you right at this moment, so get out and leave me alone!" _So much for her 'feel good' hour!_

"How dare you!" he raised his voice and glared at her, "think that I'd want to break up with you, that is! For as long as I live I'd never want that."

"You live forever, Ares," she sighed as he refused to relinquish his hold on her, "and you were singing a different tune not long ago today."

"Babe," he said softly, "you know how I get when I'm in the middle of an aggressive atmosphere: all the adrenalin, excitement and the rush clogs my brain and that's all that I can think of until it's over. We've had this conversation several times, and you know I don't mean to sound so hard."

"You always do make up for it," she whispered to herself.

"Yes," he returned earnestly, "and I swear if you give me a chance I'll make up for it this time too. Just name what you want. It can be anything: diamonds, rubies, the latest trend…you name it and I'll get it."

"Fine," she said after a while of Ares' non-stop and seemingly heartfelt declarations of love, "but on one condition."

"Name it," he whispered, as he ran his fingers through the lock of her hair. "I'll give anything to my sweetheart: anything at all."

"Never treat me like that again," Aphrodite wrapped her arms around him in return. "Because if you do I will do what I should have done in the first place – which is walk away."

"I promise," Ares said. "And when this next chapters done, I'll take you out for a meal – you can name the place – where you can explain to me in detail everything about the outfit you've been working so hard on designing these past few months for the ball."

"It's a deal," she grinned, happily. Maybe I'm destined to a perfect and amazing relationship after all!

"Because," Ares continued, "I need to make sure my outfit doesn't clash with any aspect of yours-"

"-Your outfit-"

"Because we still are going to the ball as a couple, aren't we, darl?" Ares finished, gazing into her beautiful, piercing eyes. "After all, I am going to be the hottest guy there who also knows more about the trends of fashion than any other person in the throne room, other than you, of course. Everyone says we look amazing together, and, well, I agree with them."

"So you want to go with me because…?" Aphrodite prompted.

"It's like I said: the two hottest people should stick together."

"So you don't want to go with me because you love me, or you find me entertaining, or…" she would have rambled on forever if Ares hadn't have put his hand firmly over mouth.

"Of course love," he assured her. "Whatever you say and more.

"Now," he sighed, "let's go and get the final chapter of the day over and done with so we can spend some much needed quality time together!"

"Right," she whispered, as Ares frowned slightly.

"But I thought that was what you wanted?"

_To tell you the truth Ares_, she sighed,_ I'm not quite sure anymore_…

…..

…

(The next scene shows everyone but Zeus and Hera gathered for the final reading, where there's still a couple of seconds to go.)

"I still can't believe you did that too me," a drenched Dionysus glared at the duo as he took his seat and conjured up another pair of clothes to put on. "And why again did you do it? Because I know I haven't done anything even remotely close today to deserve it!"

"Ow come on Dionysus!" Persephone grinned, "don't go acting all sour grapes on us now!"

"Yes," Hestia and Athena agreed as they struggled not to laugh, "Especially since you've been behaving so much better today!"

"Who's been behaving so much better today?" Hera asked, as the couple appeared suddenly in their thrones, with not one hair out of place.

"Dionysus, my lady," Chiron answered her happily. "After him displaying such good behaviour this afternoon, many of us are eager for him to continue this way, and not to decline just because of one harmless little prank…"

"Harmless?" Dionysus growled, "the both of them covered my Palace and I with wine and sour grapes, when they know I have a…."

"A what?" Zeus smiled at his son, seeing the answer already in his eyes.

"An addiction problem," he forced as the duo chuckled helplessly. _You'll be sorry later…!_

Zeus nodded his head once at Dionysus, as if in approval or praise, where he swiftly turned to ban everyone from ever doing such a thing again. "How would you like it Apollo," he tried to reason, "if I told you that you weren't allowed to have sugar anymore, but I just sprinkled it all over your Palace like snow for fun?"

He looked aghast at such a thought, where his mouth was left open wide and shocked for a few moments. "I'm sorry," he whispered to the wine god quietly and Dionysus shrugged his shoulders in what looked like a grudging acceptance under his fathers gaze.

"Now," Zeus clapped his hands together, and tossed the novel to Poseidon, "we can begin reading!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Hermes protested as Poseidon without much protest flicked through the book hurriedly to find the right page.

"And no skipping to the end!" Zeus warned, noticing that Poseidon's search for the right chapter was much too far on in the book that it should have been. "Now what do you want, Hermes?"

"What happened to the classic 'now, who wants to read the next chapter' line?" he demanded, as Apollo also nodded his head accusingly towards his father as he ate a couple of caramelised apples.

"Thought I'd try something different," he answered simply as Poseidon eagerly began reading.

"The next chapter is called **"I Am Offered a Quest,"**

"Well," Hephaestus sighed, "we all knew that was coming."

"I wonder what kind of quest he'll get," Athena murmured as the rest nodded in response to Hephaestus' comment.

"Knowing Percy's luck," Artemis said, "he's probably going to be sent to try to retrieve the master bolt."

"I hope not," Poseidon shuddered as he hurriedly read on, but he had the darkest feeling that Artemis wasn't so far wrong…

**The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three. **

"As expected," Athena nodded in approval.

**I didn't have to share with anybody.**

"Which I figure must be heaven," Hermes grinned, "after spending a lot of time around my noisy lot."

"And he actually gets a bed now," Hestia smiled happily, "so he should be able to sleep better."

**I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. **

"Oh, I don't know," Apollo answered, his face held a dead-panned expression, "I think he might need another cabin or two."

"At least!" Persephone played along, as Hades rolled his eyes at her cute little antics.

"Don't be mean," he smiled at her, "it's quite a sad affair really."

"I know," she sighed, "but sometimes it's easier to just to a Percy."

"I'm sorry," Demeter interrupted, "but to do a what?"

"A Percy," Hermes said, but at her blank look he explained, "she's saying it's better to look at the world in a more humorous and optimistic view than a serious and pessimistic one…and I agree!"

"Here, here!" Apollo grinned, as Poseidon laughed and carried on reading.

**I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all of my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.**

"Sounds awesome!" Ares smiled.

"Really?" Hephaestus asked, "it sounds horrible to me."

"How do you figure?" Aphrodite asked curiously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hephaestus pointed out. "I'd be very lonely and miserable if that were me, because even if you're surrounded all the time throughout the day by others: you wake up and go to sleep all alone, where you have no one special to your side to connect to. I don't know about you but it seems absolutely horrid to me."

_And me …._

**And I was absolutely miserable.**

"I'm sorry son," Poseidon said genuinely, before hurriedly moving on- not wanting anyone to comment on that moment.

**Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid**

"You _are_ a normal kid," Demeter said sweetly, "in our sense of normal anyway."

"Not really," Dionysus argued, "especially if he is that child of the prophecy.

"Oh, I know that you aren't even thinking about the prophecy this early on," Poseidon warned him, "especially considering his age, so let's have no more mention of it until _much_ later when we have _no_ choice but to discuss it."

"Okay," Dionysus said meekly, knowing never to challenge Poseidon when he was in one of his moody episodes, _but someone's in denial…_

—**or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood—I'd been separated out as if I had some rare disease.**

"It'll get better," Hera promised, "just give the children time to get used to you."

**Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back.**

"Most likely." Dionysus agreed. "After all, children are easily able to challenge even the Titans for malice."

"Will you cheer up," Hera hissed at him. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt earlier, but now it's getting rather tedious."

"Yes, _mother_," he glared at a giggling Demeter as he folded his arms over his chest in annoyance.

**The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one; that I was the son of the Sea God; and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.**

Poseidon grimaced. Not liking the thought of having so many monsters after his son.

**The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible.**

"Now that's not the right attitude to have," Hestia sighed.

"Definitely not," Artemis agreed, "especially when they know well enough that he's far more of a victim than them, where their attitudes and codes of conduct are just going to increase his levels of stress and depression."

"Aw,sis," Apollo responded to her speech sweetly, "I never knew you cared so much!"

"Way to ruin the moment, brother," Athena shook her head as Artemis glared hatefully at her twin, before Poseidon had enough sense to carry on.

**Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods,**

"Before any of you protest," Hermes said grimly, "I will have words with my children if they show a similar pattern of behaviour in future…if we were allowed to, that is!"

"Urgh!" Zeus groaned. _Not again!_ "Just read on, brother!"

**so my lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed me harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.**

"**You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."**

"I approve of your sons training methods," Ares grinned, "he's doing a good job indeed!"

"Thanks Ares," Hermes smiled, feeling a lot better after the compliment. "You certainly know how to cheer a guy up."

"Plus," Aphrodite pointed out, "he doesn't seem to mind who the hell Percy is, so that's another plus to him –for being a good friend."

**Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings,**

"And I guess your daughter too, Athena," Aphrodite smiled, " as earned praise for her kindness."

"Thank you also, Aphrodite," she smiled warmly, proud that her daughter at least was showing model behaviour.

**but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes.**

"Haha, "Poseidon grinned at Athena, "that's more like a version of your child that I imagine!"

"Hrmph!"

**After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest … Poseidon? … Dirty rotten … Got to make a plan …" **

"She's like your clone, Athena!" Hermes commented further, whereupon she knew not whether to respond with a message of thanks or a glare of hatred. She finally settled for a nod of thanks before Poseidon caught her gaze, winked at her and continued reading.

**Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. **

"Well," Persephone tutted at Ares who seemed to be in complete agreement with his daughter, "in reality she's got no one to blame but herself for her spear being broken, seeing as how she did attack him with it first."

"Yeah?" Ares retaliated, "but that's completely not the point! He still shouldn't have broken it!"

"Give it up, honey," Hades whispered to her as he entwined their hands together tightly, "you're never going to get through to him: his head's too thick for one!"

"True," she mused as Ares swiftly turn to look upon them in outrage.

"Just let it go," Apollo advised him, "or we're never going to get a long break any time soon!"

**I wished she would just yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored.**

"I think that just about sums up Ares' life story," Demeter rolled her eyes, as Aphrodite frowned.

"Yeah," Hermes said giggling, "where his slogan would be along the lines of 'make war not love!"

"No, I think yours would be, 'Make war not love.'" Hades said.

"Oh, no!" Aphrodite exclaimed, horrified at the thought.

"Don't worry, Aphro," he sighed at her, "their just teasing."

_They'd better be…_

**I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the **_**New York Daily News**_**, opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.**

"Urgh," Hades winced, "well this can't be good."

_**BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT **_

_**BY EILEEN SMYTHE**_

"Definitely not," Chiron sighed, "the poor soul."

"I wonder who did it," Hestia said quietly, "as they must be feeling rather shameful by now."

"The logical answer would be to blame Clarisse," Athena stated calmly, but-"

"-that sounds to simple, doesn't it?" Artemis finished, "seeing as we also know that someone else in camp is out to get him –it could well be that person."

"Especially as it doesn't seem to be something that a daughter of yours would do, Ares," Athena finished, with Ares looking slightly relived.

"What makes you think that?" Zeus asked her, sounding more than a little interested.

"Well," she started, "for one it requires too much thinking and planning, where I'd imagine Clarisse to be the more confrontal than sneaky kind of individual. Also , to be able to do this, the person would need a lot of information about the boy: where I highly doubt that Clarisse knows him well enough to be able to have gotten hold of one."

"So we're back to square one," Poseidon groaned, sinking into his throne, "where we're still no closer to knowing the whole story."

"We'll know soon enough," she sighed irritably towards him, "if you'd stop being so impatient, that is!"

He sent a venomous glare towards her but carried on reading.

_**Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.**_

"I would give all of our money," Persephone began, but was swiftly interrupted by Hades.

"All?" he asked her sceptically.

"Okay," she laughed, "most of our money – you cheapskate ! – to see and hear Gabe's reaction to seeing this."

"Oh!" Hermes moaned delightedly, "I'd second that motion!"

"Third!"

"Yes, yes," Zeus interrupted, "I think we get the point. Now, read on, Poseidon."

_**Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.**_

"Now that's weird," Apollo frowned as he raised an eyebrow, "after all, there was all the lightning, screaming, bull guys…so why-"

"The mist, doofus!" Athena sighed and shook her head in frustration at him.

"Riiiighhhhht," Apollo's face relaxed once again, but then frowned once more a few moments later. "Hey!"

_**Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano,**_

"I still don't believe that's his real name," Hephaestus shook his head. "It can't be!"

"It definitely suits him though," Artemis sniffed, remembering back to this morning to when she'd first met him.

_**claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child **_

"Okay," Hermes defended, "he might be a little troubled, but that's only because he has to deal with hundreds of monsters chasing after him on an almost daily basis!"

"Yeah, dude," Apollo agreed, "if you had to deal with all of that, I'd bet you'd be more than troubled: you'd be in a mental hospital or worse!"

_**who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools**_

"Well, yes," Aphrodite conceded that point too, "but that doesn't mean he's dumb or a thug or a bum!"

_**and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.**_

"Now that's going too far!" Persephone yelled in outrage, which was followed immediately by the rest of the room."

"He's not interested in their safety," Poseidon spat angrily, "he's only interested in seeing Percy being arrested and out of his life."

"Ow," Apollo said, "now you know that's not all that he's interested in…I'm pretty sure he'd fancy having Sally back to cook and work for him like a slave too!"

Poseidon's eyes suddenly took on the stormy glow of the sea. "That," he vowed, "will never happen again."

_**Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.**_

**The phone number was circled in black marker.**

"When the culprit is brought to justice," Poseidon promised, "I'll make them pay for my son's distress."

"As you should," Athena said simply as he continued reading. _As would I if I was found in a similar circumstance…_

**I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin.**

"**Lights out," I told myself miserably.**

"Poor dear." Hera said, "I do hope he cheers up soon."

"I just think he's luck," Apollo said, "after all, if I had a choice between sharing a cramped cabin of 15 or having a cabin to myself I'd go with the second option."

"True," Artemis mused, "but you'd also go running back to the cramped cabin the next day!"

"Face it, dude," Hermes said, "you can't stand being on your own."

Apollo shrugged once, allowing his Uncle to move swiftly onwards.

**That night, I had my worst dream yet.**

"And," Chiron continued further, "seeing as you're a demigod, I highly doubt that they'd get any easier."

"I hope it's one of those psychic dreams they have though," Ares grumbled, "and not another pointless one, so we can have a better clue about what was going on."

"Surprisingly enough, Ares," Athena said, "I agree with you completely on this matter."

"Wow," Aphrodite and Persephone looked stunned. "I'd never thought I'd see the day where the both of you would agree on something."

"I'd suggest you savour it then," Athena retaliated coldly, "as I highly doubt that it would happen again."

**I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.**

"California?" Dionysus wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure..." Athena trailed off as Poseidon moved on, "but the mention of the storm is ominous…"

**About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. **

"**No doubt the two of you, again," Artemis snorted, pointing her chin at her father and Uncle.**

"Most probably," Hestia sighed.

"Honestly," Hera shook her head regally, "when will you two ever learn that nothing good comes out of fighting and arguing like a pair of children."

"It's a habit," Poseidon sighed, as Zeus continued to stare sheepishly at the floor, "albeit a bad one."

"At least they're not fighting right now," Demeter rationalised, "so they're showing improvement on their behaviour already."

"Well," Hera relaxed once more, her eyes warming increasingly towards her husband, "I just hope this truce lasts…"

**They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green. **

"Interesting description," Dionysus smiled, _though I myself would have gone for cavemen_…

**They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose. **

"Really," Athena groaned at the pair of them, "can't you see how childish and reckless your behaviour is to each other?"

"Especially in this case," Chiron continued, "when the both of you are innocent of what the other has accused you of."

"Where if you'd have just had a civilised discussion none of this fuss would have been caused in the first place," Demeter finished, but felt the need to add more as she caught a glimpse of Hades' face. "And I don't know why you're laughing, Hades, you're just as bad as them: even worse than them probably, seeing as you're the worst to hold grudges!"

"Look," Aphrodite interrupted, sounding quite distressed, "We're going to get no where arguing or pointing fingers at each other, so let's just continue reading the book, shall we?"

**I had to stop them. I didn't know why.**

"Aw," Persephone smiled, "he's a peacemaker…how sweet!"

"Yes," Poseidon said calmly, "it's a good thing he takes after his mother in this aspect, and not myself."

"Um," Athena added, "I highly doubt that the boy said this because of a pacifist nature – but he's most likely thinking along the lines of what exactly is causing you to fight and the consequences that your actions are going to lead to."

Silence greeted her words for a few moments, only to be interrupted once by Apollo's, 'you're such a little know-it-all, aren't you?' comment, and then again by Poseidon's voice.

**But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand.**

"That must be quiet a weird experience to feel," Hermes scrunched up his eyes as Apollo nodded.

"True," he grinned, "but all I can picture in my head is him flying backwards if he stopped running!"

"Like an invisible treadmill?"

"Exactly!"

**Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, **_**Give it back! Give it back! **_**Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy. **

At this point the room would have gladly burst into helpless laughter, except for the deathly glares the king of the gods was firing in quick succession, one after the other.

"Just. Read. On," he warned Poseidon, who shrugged his shoulders, grinned once, and continued with his appointed task.

**The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt. **

**I yelled, **_**Stop it! Stop fighting! **_

"Trust me kid," Dionysus yawned, "that's not going to happen anytime soon!"

"I know," Aphrodite ranted, "it's like they become deaf all of a sudden to everyone else around them. "

"Yet somehow," the wine god said grimly, recalling from experience, "they can remember everything that went on around them afterwards, and are very quick to punish the wrong doers!"

"Oww," Aphrodite gushed happily, "was that the time you-"

"Yes!" he stopped her, his face blushing a scarlet red, "and no one here needs a reminder of it, alright!"

**The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice. **

"See?" Persephone pointed out proudly, "it can't possibly be my Hades causing all of this, as it doesn't sound at all like him!"

"Thank you for sticking up for me, love," he kissed her gently, "but I think they already came to that conclusion a while ago." _Hopefully!_

"I just wanted to make sure, baby," she smiled, "so that there were no more misunderstandings between us all."

_**Come down, little hero, **_**the voice crooned. **_**Come down!**_

Everyone shivered thinking about whom that terrible voice belonged to. The thought of Kronos rising again scared everyone, including the Lord of the Dead himself. If Kronos was rising from Tartarus, things did not look good for anyone.

**The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the centre of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.**

"That doesn't sound good!" Apollo whispered, as Hermes elbowed him hard. "Ouch! What was that for?" he demanded.

"Show some respect," Hermes warned him, as Poseidon shook his head worriedly downwards towards the book.

**I woke up, sure I was falling. **

**I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.**

**I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.**

"**Come in?"**

**Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."**

"**Why?"**

"**He wants to kill…**

"WHAT?" they yelled at Dionysus, as Poseidon's eyes scrunched furiously into slits.

**I mean, I'd better let him tell you."**

"You'd better not hurt him," Artemis warned, "or you're into a seriously horrible world of pain -"

"Followed swiftly," Persephone and Hades said, "by a few hundred years in our new dungeons!"

"No!" Dionysus cried nervously "Ow, come on: you're all over-reacting! You know I can't just kill the just without a fair –ish- reason! Especially not Uncle's spawn!" he lowered his tone, to a sweeter and more compelling one. "Now, let's just calm down and read onwards, shall we?"

**Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble.**

**For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that I was declared a son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive. **

"Let's just not go there," Hades suggested to his brothers, "before anyone else jumps in to the conversation."

"Agreed," the two said in unison, and for the first time in their entire history the trio had successfully avoided confrontation, taken the way of peace, _and_ agreed on a similar course of action: all in the same day!

**The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict.**

"Please," Ares scoffed, "that would have probably been my job!"

"Ares…" Aphrodite warned him.

"Sorry darl!"

**Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.**

"**No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."**

"Well," Hephaestus sighed, "almost never!"

"Just every now and again when the 'big three' have a temper tantrum," Hermes smiled, "so you're going to be eating your words pretty soon, Satyr."

"Don't encourage him to eat," Dionysus groaned, "they're driven by food too much as it is!"

"But," Hermes answered him, unsure of what to say in the awkward situation. "It's just an expression…"

"Not to Satyrs it's not," Dionysus rolled his eyes, "they're always on the lookout for something new to eat."

**I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"**

**He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."**

"Where you born that thick?" Ares referred to the Satyr grumpily, remembering well what the little tick had done to him earlier that day.

"Ares!" Demeter scolded him firmly, "you will be nicer to him, or you'll have me to deal with!"

"Oh no!" his expression widened in mock horror, "n-not y-you!"

"Why, you little-"

"Continue!" Hera demanded rather loudly, causing Zeus and Poseidon to snicker at Demeter's form of punishment afterwards for her loss of temper.

**I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley. **

**But this storm … this one was huge.**

"And it doesn't look as if it'll be clearing anytime soon," Artemis sighed in contemplation.

**At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. **

"Where, of course!" Apollo bragged away, "my children have always won each and every match against them!"

Artemis leaned closer to Athena's ear, "somehow I doubt it," she smiled, causing the goddess to giggle quietly.

"What's up with you?" Dionysus raised an eyebrow at her in question, "you're sure acting a little weird today."

"Nothing," they smiled widely, as Poseidon began again.

**Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.**

**Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheel chair. They were playing against invisible opponents—two sets of cards hovering in the air. **

"That sounds kinda fun," Apollo said simply, "if I were retired that is!"

"Yeah," Hermes said, "come on you two: you should start living it large a bit more!"

"Seriously," Ares joined in, "old pensioners who are just about an inch from death are far livelier than the pair of you!"

"Hey," Chiron protested, feeling rather hurt, "that was very unnecessary!"

"And I'd love to see," Dionysus began, "what the three of you would get up to if you were in my place. You'd be screaming for the hill, that's for sure."

"Reading on," Poseidon called, tiring fast of the little argument and much wanting to returning to see how Percy was doing.

"**Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."**

**I waited.**

"**Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."**

Poseidon scowled in disbelief at the boy's cheek as Athena laughed hysterically.

"What?" she defended herself, "I like that one! Barnacle Beard…it has a nice ring to it."

Poseidon continued to glare icily at her.

"What?" she frowned innocently, struggling not to laugh.

"Oh, nothing," he returned, sounding equally innocent, "I'm just not sure at this precise moment who's annoying me more, Snape over there looking all doom and gloom or you and your strange behaviour as of late!"

"Hey!" she protested outraged, "I didn't come here to be insulted!"

"No?" he answered in shock, "then where do you usually go?"

He swiftly continued reading moments afterwards: giving her no opening for swift retaliation.

**A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.**

"**Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.**

**Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards.**

"Please!" scoffed Hephaestus at the pair of them, who were smiling sheepishly, "you wouldn't pretend to be so calm if Zeus actually appeared before their eyes and struck you!"

"You know, dad," Hermes grinned at him, "you should really do that-sneak up on them that is! You'd certainly make life far more interesting for them all of a sudden anyway."

**Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.**

"Though, preferably not in front of the Satyr," Demeter amended, "as I'm not sure if he could handle the stress."

"But," Ares sighed, "there goes half the fun!"

"**If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble.**

"Geez, dude," Apollo interrupted, "do you really hate the kid that much?"

"Face it, Apollo," the god replied evasively, clearly not wanting to discuss the matter, "there are just some things you just don't know about me – where I doubt you'll ever learn them about me after a whole eternity in each other's company –so just leave it alone."

**But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at the cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."**

"It is just a bit, isn't it?" Hermes rolled his eyes at the sullen, uncommunicative god.

"Meh," Apollo impersonated the wine god, "details!"

"Honestly," Dionysus huffed tiredly, "when will the both of you grow up?"

"Never!"

"**Spontaneous combustion **_**is **_**a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.**

"**Nonsense," Dionysus said. –**

"Actually," Ares commented to no one in particular, "I agree with Mr.D here, because it depends on your interpretation of it."

At that Athena's mouth widened to form a perfect 0 of frustration and astonishment. "How can it _not_ be a form of harm?"

"In many ways actually!" Ares argued, thinking as quickly on his feet as he was able to. "Firstly, uh- I-"

"Ares," Dionysus sent him a look. "You do know I was being sarcastic, right?"

"Pfft," the war god snorted as he slowly relaxed back into his seat, "…I knew that! "

"Really?" Athena tilted her head upwards gloatingly towards him.

"Sure," he laughed loudly, "I was only playing along with him! …You know, for fun!"

"Oh, don't worry," Athena's smirk said it all, "we all believe you."

Ares turned a very red as Poseidon began reading once again.

**"Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."**

"Actually," Persephone spoke up, "that sounds lovely to me: I wouldn't mind at all if he'd have done that to me if I was in Percy's shoes."

"Urm," Zeus cocked his head towards her, as Poseidon continued to look pleased but bewildered. "Can I ask why?"

"Well," Persephone started, "as a demigod I wouldn't be aloud to do anything I would want to do, go anywhere where I wanted to go safely, or even to see the people that I loved: especially my parents. All I'd be able to do is train, fight and die. So if I were a dolphin I'd be able to have a relaxing life with next to no troubles where I was always going to be in the company of my parents. It just sounds to me like the best option he has at the moment."

"Plus," Apollo butted in, ruining the moment, "he wouldn't have to do any more exams anymore! Or even be bothered by _some people_," he glanced hardly at Athena, "about doing the exams and learning."

"Hey!" she protested heartily, "education isn't that bad…"

"Oh," Hermes put his arms up in warning, "save it!"

"**Mr. D—" Chiron warned.**

"**Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness."**

"He'll pick that option," Poseidon sighed at once, "as it sounds the worst of the lot."

"Most probably," Hestia admitted, as the sea god moved forwards.

**Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than when Chiron feels you must do."**

"Most definitely," Aphrodite bobbed her head sadly, trying to image her immortal life forever in the shape of a dolphin. _Brrrr! There'd better be high value cosmetics there, that's for sure!_

**Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.**

**He snapped hi fingers.**

**The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.**

"Mmm," Hephaestus mused the exit over in his mind, "it's okay I suppose, but there's much room for improvement."

"Totally," Aphrodite agreed as she sent Dionysus a comforting smile. "In future though, you might want to add some more effects: maybe a few more flashes of vibrant colours,…"

"…or exotic sounds," Hephaestus grinned at him.

"But you should keep the lingering fragrance," Aphrodite finished, before Poseidon began to read on, "as it's simple but powerful."

"Hrmmm…"

**Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."**

**We did.**

"Duh," Zeus sighed, only to be batted firmly by Hera's hands.

"Please, darling," she smiled, "he's nervous enough as it is."

"Sorry," he grinned mischievously, "couldn't resist."

**Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.**

"Drat!" Dionysus threw his head in his hands with a groan. "Even when I'm not there I still lose! Why is that?"

"Um," Hades felt the need to roll his eyes, "because you suck?"

"**Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"**

**Just hearing the name made me shudder.** **Chiron probably wanted me to say, **_**Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast.**_

"No, no," the centaur shook his head rapidly as the others shuddered in displeasure at the image portrayed. "Trust me, I wouldn't!"

"Honestly!" Artemis shook her head in exasperation. "Where does he get these absurd thoughts from?"

"I wish I knew," Poseidon grinned slightly as he shook his head. "But at least I know when I hear them that he's coping and that he's going to be okay."

**But I didn't feel like lying.**

"Well," Artemis raised her eyebrows high, " that's a first."

"What is, sis?" Apollo asked, gazing at her weirdly.

"Nothing," Artemis answered, as Apollo's expression only turned even tenser than before. _I guess not all men are the same after all…_

"If you say so," he replied, as he hesitantly turned his head back towards Poseidon.

"**It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."**

"**You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."**

"And once again," Hermes shook his head, "you have proved beyond a doubt to be completely insensitive and mean."

Chiron sighed once, "I'm just making him aware of what his life is going to be like if he continues down this path. You won't find me sugar coating it, because there's nothing I can say to brighten up my words and still be able to tell the truth. Besides," he added, "I suspect that I have to make him aware of these things to proper prepare him for what you all wish him to do."

A long silence met his words.

"Well," Apollo finally said, not finding any offense in his words, "you sure told us!"

Poseidon shook his head in disbelief as he continued to read.

"**Done … with what?"**

"**Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"**

"Most probably," they chorused in unison.

"Most probably," Hades shook his head at the image of the boy that he held in his mind, "he'll probably be forced to accept the quest before he knows what the quest actually is."

"Oh, most probably," Dionysus nodded his head in agreement, "as nothing is ever easy and nice in the lives of demigods. No," he added, shaking his head darkly, "they always have to take the hard way and be the big hero!"

"Dionysus," Hera sighed at him, "why do you find one simple instruction of 'trying to appear happier in a more positive, useful and constructive light' to be simply impossible and not worth trying to achieve?"

"Sorry," he said at once, "I'll try to do better: though it does tend to be a harder task of keeping it up when everyone around you tends to be moody too."

"Oh, Dionysus!" Hermes responded aghast to his latest comment, "weren't you the one who kept telling us not to give into peer pressure?"

"Yeah," Apollo agreed, "you can't just turn around and blame us for your behaviour, you hypocrite!"

"Urgh," the wine god continued to sigh as he slumped heavily into his chair._ And they wonder why I'm always miserable…_

**I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.**

"**Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."**

**Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."**

"Aren't they always?" Chiron muttered to himself.

**Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.**

"**Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable … something that was stolen, aren't they?"**

**Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. **

**Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"**

"Through his dreams…" Apollo started spookily, "plus, because of little Miss Can't be Wrong…uh-hem, Annabelle..." he grinned, as Athena narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

**My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. **

"Well," Ares snorted, "it's a bit late for that now, isn't it, squirt?"

"Oh," Demeter protested, "leave him alone, Ares. He's nervous enough as it is."

**"The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And … I've also been having these dreams."**

"**I knew it," Grover said.**

"**Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.**

"**But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"**

"**Only the Oracle can determine."**

**Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."**

Zeus glared at the book and said, "If I ever find out who took my Master Bolt… I'll, I'll…" he trailed off. Everyone understood what he was trying to say and didn't question it.

"Give them a warning before putting them in time out?" Apollo said, in such an innocent voice, Zeus – or the others for that matter- where unsure whether he was genuinely serious or not.

"N-not quite," he frowned at his son, as Poseidon rolled his eyes in amusement as the continued onwards.

**I laughed nervously. "A **_**what**_**?"**

"Good grief," Athena's hand smacked her forehead. "What doesn't he understand now?"

"**Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives."**

"**Oh."**

"Yep," Hermes nodded in agreement, "you know it's bad when you can only give a one syllable answer in response."

"Quiet!" Athena sighed, "I'm trying to concentrate on this extract: there might be something here that's about to be revealed that we've missed."

At once they all concentrated and leaned forward in their seats: vigilant and constant.

"**Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."**

"**And it's missing?"**

"**Stolen," Chiron said.**

"**By who?"**

"**By **_**whom**_**," Chiron corrected.**

"Really, dude?" Ares had to interrupt. "You had to correct him right then and there?"

"Once a teacher, always a teacher," Hestia smiled at him reassuringly, where he smiled kindly at her in response."

**Once a teacher, always a teacher. **

"Thank you," he smiled further at them all.

"**By you."**

"WHAT?"

**My mouth fell open.**

"**At least" —Chiron held up a hand—"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. **

"As usual," everyone chorused, as the two gods in question kept their eyes guiltily glued to the floor in shame.

**The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' etcetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon.**

"Yep, that sounds about right." Artemis confirmed, as the others nodded automatically.

"Hey," Poseidon interrupted, "we do not argue all of the time."

The others just gave him a look.

"Seriously?" Aphrodite raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows high.

"For real?" Persephone stuttered a laugh, as the 'big three' started at her, appearing hurt by the statement.

"Dudes," Apollo snorted, "you argue every day…or every other day at least!"

"Yeah," Demeter moaned, "it drives us absolutely nuts: especially when you ruin some big and largely awaited event we've been looking forward to – like the last ball – or destroying some patches of wildlife or city areas…where you've even been known to maim and kill the mortals below!"

"Honestly," Athena finished firmly, "it must come to an end."

"We can try," Poseidon sighed, as he looked at one brother to the other questionably. When they both nodded hesitantly, he decided to carry on: as he knew that no serious changes could be firmly set after a single day of seeing each other through different perspectives.

**Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly—that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."**

"**But I didn't—"**

"**Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topped Zeus from his throne.**

"Well, that certainly sounds…plausible?" Chiron said, uncertainly.

"But highly untrue," Hermes defended his Uncle, "as he doesn't have the finesse that me and my children have of the art of thievery: where it's certainly not his style."

"And since we've had this exact conversation before," Hades sighed, "I think it's fair and reasonable if we all move on from this spot, in the effort to learn more information of the soul that _did_ steal your bolt brother."

"Agreed," Zeus said, as Poseidon instantly read happily onwards.

**The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."**

"LOL," Aphrodite shook her head in laughter, "he doesn't even know where Olympus is, exactly, let alone where on Olympus the bolt's located: I just find it so ironic!"

"**But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"**

"Ouch!" Poseidon winced as Zeus' face turned red in anger.

"Read on, Poseidon," he stated calmly, where the sea god was quick to comply.

_Wow_, he thought amazed. _I never would have guessed I'd see the day where Zeus was actually making an effort to control his temper._

"Now!"

_Okay…!_

**Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.**

"Uh-oh," Demeter smiled, "I think your son is getting to be a little pessimist after all."

"Funny though," Ares yawned as Poseidon continued once again.

_Urgh,_ he groaned tiredly, _all these interruptions tend to be so much more annoying when it happens to be you who's reading out the book for a change….I wonder how much longer I have to go on for until I actually finish…?_

"**Er, Percy …?" Grover said. "We don't use the **_**c**_**-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."**

"**Perhaps **_**paranoid**_**," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. **

"Huh?" Poseidon interrupted himself in confusion. "When did I do that?"

**I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam…" He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight.**

"Question thirty-eight?" Apollo echoed, "I don't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning! You're incredibly cruel, Chiron!"

_Am not!_ He denied –mentally at least, as he knew better not to rile a god up too much. _Besides,_ he thought, _you wouldn't even last a week if you had to endure full time education!_

**How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted.**

"Oooh," Hermes shook his head, "I would imagine that's actually a lot harder to steal than dad's lightning bolt!"

"With worse consequences for being caught stealing it too," Ares agreed as the elder gods shook their heads in amusement at them.

**Chiron was waiting for an answer.**

"About what again?" Apollo asked, apparently forgotten the point of the whole conversation.

"Geez," Hermes laughed, "and you say I have a low concentration span!"

"Then tell me what was the last thing that happened in the book?" Apollo asked knowingly, only to be surprisingly interrupted by Ares.

"Guys," the war god said, a little worriedly, "we really do need to speed this all up a bit: otherwise Aphrodite and I are going to miss our dinner reservations this evening!"

"And you still won't tell me where you're taking me, won't you darling?" she smiled happily, only to be interrupted by Hephaestus' confused response.

"You're going out tonight, _with him_?" his eyes looked severely disappointed, and more than a little hurt. "After the horrible way that he treated you earlier this evening? But … I thought we were supposed to begin planning what we were going to be doing after we finish the books tonight: where afterwards you were going to show me how the whole attire for the ball would look on you, where I would fix on the finishing touches, and then…and …when…I'm confused?"

The golden goddess looked distraught at the conflict she'd caused. "I'm sorry!" she apologised to her husband. "He apologised – it was all a misunderstanding, so to make up for it he suggested we'd go out to a wonderful and glorious new restaurant and…I'm sorry, but I forgot the quiet little evening we were going to have together…I don't know what to do!"

"Don't worry, wife of mine," Hephaestus said, in a hardened tone. "Let me make the decision easier for you." With that, without looking towards his father for permission, he stood strongly upwards, grew to his full height, and stormed out of the door: without once looking back.

As Aphrodite was about to run after him, she found herself being suddenly flung backwards into her throne. "No one else will leave this room – not ever! – when we are in the middle of reading these novels! Now," he glanced at Aphrodite, "stay down, control yourself, and do not move until the chapter is finished!"

_Well,_ Poseidon commented as he saw the love goddesses tears run down her smooth, tanned face in silence, _his 'learning to control his temper' didn't last too long after all…!_

"**Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods … they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"**

"**Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since.**

"Ah, that!" Poseidon said, then scoffed in denial. "Please," he went on, "I seriously don't consider that incident in history as trying to over-throw someone: especially seeing as we were all a part of it and we were all unsettled about how the way things were currently running. No, I see this incident, Chiron, as trying to make my brother see reason, as he kept ignoring our suggestions and concerns aside, as if we didn't matter."

"That of which I've apologised for," Zeus grumbled, calming down much since his outburst.

"As have I," Poseidon pointed out. "I'm simply trying to say that this shouldn't be classed as an attempt to overthrow someone, as I didn't want to rule: I just wanted the ruler to rule better."

"Which, you did," Athena smiled at her father. "Where we don't question your ruling abilities here at present. We simply ask for a rethink or even a re-design of the rules: as there are some aspects of our lives that could do with improvement."

"And so if we've quite finished about this incident," Hades declared, "I suggest that we read onwards."

**Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt.**

"Well," Artemis rolled her eyes at that statement, "even if he did steal the lightning bolt, he's never going to admit otherwise!"

"Yeah," Apollo grinned, "because that would be simply suicidal!"

**He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along—the proverbial last straw."**

"**But I'm just a kid!"**

"**Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you… Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?**

"**But I didn't do anything. Poseidon—my dad—he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"**

"You had better defend me, Chiron!" Poseidon warned the centaur, who was averting his gaze nervously from the intense stare from the god, "or I'll be half of mind to make things extremely unpleasant for you for a while…"

**Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style.**

"Thank you, Centaur," Poseidon smiled gratefully at him, as the trainer breathed out a refreshing sigh of relief.

However, Zeus frowned heavily upon the centaurs words. "Chiron," he began calmly, "are you saying I'm _not_ a thinking observer?"

_Well_, Chiron decided frustratingly as he wisely decided to remain silent, _you can't win them all…_

**But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date.**

**I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. **

"Hey," Apollo frowned, "why isn't my name mentioned here? I'm highly diplomatic!"

Hestia looked over towards him in amusement, as Demeter replied confidently. Diplomatic? I'm not even sure you even know how to spell the word, let alone what it means!"

"Besides," Hera told him gently, "you, along with your antics and so called 'pranks' aggravate him further, rather than calm him down enough to listen to reason."

"But I –"

Poseidon interrupted him swiftly: really desiring to escape this never-ending whirlpool of accusations and questions.

**But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down**. **Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"**

"**Bad?" I guessed.**

"**Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western Civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."**

"I already have enough people in my kingdom to last me…well for eternity! I don't need more!" Hades yelled at Zeus and Poseidon.

"**Bad," I repeated.**

"Hell, yeah!" Ares yelled, as Aphrodite glared at him through her tears. "What!...oh, right, soz."

"More like a massive understatement," Hera sighed tiredly. Looking after her husband always appeared to be a full time job!

"**And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."**

"Get to the point," Poseidon murmured as he read, hating to know of the numerous, horrifying dangers that were a threat to his son.

**It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.**_** I**_** had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was furious.**

"**So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said. "And return it to Zeus."**

"**What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"**

"**If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"**

"A better question," Athena approved happily, as she mounted the endless list in her mind of some likely candidates that could have stolen the bolt.

"**I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago … well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."**

"**Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"**

"**Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."**

"That's reassuring." Hermes said worriedly.

"But it's the only way for him to clear his name and stop a war," Apollo nodded sadly, "so he has no choice."

**I swallowed. "Good reason."**

"**You agree then?"**

**I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly. **

**Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.**

"**All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."**

"Which I seriously don't agree about at all," Persephone sighed, after being quiet for quite a while.

"Yes, honey," Hades comforted her, "that's because you're still so very young and innocent, where you would rather play all day in peace than fight for a single minute: that's nothing to be ashamed of."

She smiled at him happily as she wrapped her hands around him, "I so love the way that you can understand me."

"And I so love every single thing about you," he smiled at her, as they kissed on another: starting off casual, then increasingly mounting in force so strong that after seven second you could almost swear you could hear the steam coming out of Demeter's ears.

"Alright," Hera smiled, as the couple reluctantly pulled apart slightly, "let's read on, shall we?"

**The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armour stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled **_**things**_**—severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, and various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.**

"Dude," Apollo laughed at the centaur, "have you ever heard of spring cleaning?

"Seriously," Hermes grinned at the red faced centaur, "is there anything that doesn't make it up to the attic?"

"Pfft," Dionysus snorted at the naïve god, "I'm pretty sure I saw one of his old toothbrushes up there once: so that would be an astounding yes to your question!"

"**Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."**

"_Assuming you're still sane?" _

"Yes, yes," Chiron sighed towards Poseidon, who was looking at him negatively. "I suppose that was _quite_ out of line, and a _little _unnecessary for the child to hear."

"Quite?" Demeter frowned at him.

"A little?" Hades raised an eyebrow in question.

"But what he said was true!" Athena protested, which caused Apollo to roll his eyes at her.

"It's absolutely true sis," he snorted, "but it's not something he desperately needed to know, right at that moment was it?"

"Poppycock," she counteracted, "he should know the truth about everything that he does from here on out, so that he knows enough to make the right decision for himself."

"But he's still just a child, Athena," Hestia reminded her quietly, "he shouldn't hear information like this, where we definitely shouldn't rush him to grow up."

The wisdom goddess didn't even dignify that with an answer, in which Poseidon took this as a sign to shrug his shoulders and read on.

**Four flights up, **

"Urgh, stairs!" Apollo groaned in horror, "no wonder Chiron's so scared that he'll go insane: image all that exercise!"

"Apollo," Artemis tried to reason with him once again, "you do more exercise than simply climbing four flights of stairs every morning before you work: hell, your bedroom is on the seventh floor!"

"Duh," he smirked," I take the elevator!"

"Only on the rare days when it's running quickly," she counteracted. "Most days you cannot be bothered to wait for it to come to you and just run down the stairs, out of your palace, through your grounds, down your hill and up again a couple of miles to your favourite bakery, before you run back and get your car to start your day!"

"And don't forget," Hermes added, "that on most days he leaves the keys to his car on his bedside cabinet."

"Wow, man," Ares smiled at him, seriously impressed, "no wonder you're so skinny!"

"Yup," Artemis rolled his eyes at her moronic brother. "He'll do anything for a bite to eat: _anything_!"

"Anything?" Dionysus repeated, as a slow smile formed and widened on the normally moody gods face. "That's good to know…"

_Payback's a bitch and all that crap….! _

**the stairs ended under a green trap door.**

**I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.**

Apollo shivered violently, causing the majority of the women to shake their heads in disaprovement.

_Honestly, _Athena sighed,_ when will he grow up?_

**The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else … a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes. I held my breath and climbed. **

**By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy.**

"A mummy isn't gruesome." Hades sighed, "they are just simply misunderstood."

**Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shrivelled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.**

Persephone gave her husband a look, before he lifted his hands in protest, "Okay, okay," he sighed. "On the outside – _maybe_…but on the inside I'm sure she's as normal as anyone else."

"Right…," she smiled up at him, "we believe you."

**Looking at her sent chills up my back. **

Zeus chuckled softly, "I wonder what he'll be like when he finds out that-"

"-ssh," Poseidon shushed him, "it's coming up now!"

"Run through the door most probably," Ares murmured softly, rubbing his hands together furiously , "if we're lucky!"

**And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trap door, but it slammed shut.**

"Aw," Apollo sighed unhappily, "she's not that bad…"

"Bro," Hermes patted him on the back. "I hate to tell you but she seriously is."

Apollo's frown grew further, as he slumped into his seat. _She sounds so much worse than what she is now,_ he groaned sadly. _There's got to be a reason why there hasn't been a replacement for her in so long. If only I knew what that was…_

**Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: **_**I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.**_

"And this isn't the least bit weird?" Persephone arched her eyebrows high at her husband in question.

"A little," he admitted at last, allowing his pride to be conquered slightly.

"_A little_?" Persephone giggled innocently.

"Alright, alright, a lot!" Hades sighed. _Women!_

At this exchange, Poseidon gave a warm but brief smile before carrying onwards.

**I wanted to say, **_**No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom.**_** But I forced myself to take a deep breath. **

**The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math teacher Mrs. Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand:**

The council groaned aloud.

"And you had to remind us of that, now, didn't you?" Hermes rolled his eyes, obviously shoving a great deal amount of care into his words.

"He'll be fine," Hestia smiled at the image of the boy she held in her mind, as Poseidon nodded vigorously to himself: though the rest didn't appear to certain.

**Ancient, powerful, and definitely **_**not**_** human. But not particularly interested in killing me, either. **

"And you should find that one small feat to be a miracle, indeed!" Dionysus agreed, "seeing as you're highly unlikely to discover yourself in a similar situation and live."

"Dionysus," Athena protested sharply towards him, but Dionysus' expression turned into a grin quickly: as if this was the desired reaction he'd hoped would occur.

"But Athena," he protested innocently, "I'm just telling him the truth: so that he's more aware of the things around him and is able to make the right decision with the knowledge he has, remember?"

"Perfectly," she responded coldly, her tone of voice far lower than normal.

**I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"**

"Sounds a little…cliché doesn't it?" Ares snorted. "Maybe even a little dramatic?"

"Well son," Hera answered honestly, "he was just told he had to answer a question, and he knew the purpose of journeying up to the attic was to find out information about 'going on a quest of sorts.' Seeing as a lot of the details involving the quest was left out, as was the question of why he had to go up and see the Oracle in the fist place, for example, and what he was supposed to ask her…I thought that it was a well-rounded question on the whole. A good choice even, considering that this is his very first quest."

**The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around a table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.**

"Okayyy," Hermes said. "That's freaky and highly unpleasant."

**My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist. Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: **_**You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.**_

"So," Zeus frowned as Hera's –and the rest of the council's eyes widened, "one of you may be behind this whole mess after all!"

However, all Poseidon could worry about was his Percy, having to go up against a god. _Please survive this, _he pleaded,_ after all, he's so young…_

"Poseidon!" Zeus pouted moodily, "did you just hear anything that I've said?"

"Sorry, brother," he made sure to keep his voice calm and evenly. "My mind was elsewhere."

"Let's just read on, father," Athena advised him, "to see if we can discover anymore information. That way, it'll give this new information time to sink in." _Where we don't risk accusing innocent members of this council._

"You're right daughter, as always," he sighed, whereupon Poseidon began reading instantly.

**His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: **_**You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. **_

"Yes," Zeus yelled happily, as his brothers rolled their eyes at his oer enthusiastic behaviour. "I get my master bolt back!"

"Whoopie for you," Poseidon muttered, as Posiedon hurriedly scanned the rest of the page for more information…it didn't sound good.

**The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: **_**You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.**_

"The traitorous child at camp," Artemis hissed, as the other's nodded thoughtfully.

"So, it's someone at camp who's either close to him, or has expressed such a closeness to him at an activity or two," Demeter sighed, "the poor darling."

"I sincerely hope it's not Annabeth," Persephone prayed as Poseidon began to read again, "seeing as I was coming around to liking her."

**Finally, Eddie, our building superior, delivered the worst line of all: **_**And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.**_

Everyone looked glumly at that, each taking a silent minute out of the conversation to try to discover what this line could mean.

_Sally_, Poseidon all but cried, _it has to_ _refer to her! But…that's not…she won't_… He took a moment or two to calm himself down. _She'll be okay..._

**The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"**

"Sorry, dude," Apollo simply shook his head sympathetically. "It's not that easy I'm afraid."

**The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been opened in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.**

**I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cob webs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else. **

"Basically," Dionysus yawned, as he popped open another can of diet coke. "Though personally I'd just love to see your reaction to those 'spiders' that you'd meet…"

As Dionysus began to chuckle darkly, Hermes said his eyebrows. "I don't understand. Aren't they just ordinary spiders?"

"Nope," the god replied, as he emphasised the plosive sound. "They're about six or more times bigger, with fatter, furrier and faster legs, with one mean bite that would make the strongest of my wine feel like you've been sucking on a tiptop."

The gods all shuddered.

"Oh, and plus they're blue."

**My audience with the Oracle was over.**

"**Well?" Chiron asked me. **

**I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."**

"You need to tell him all of it, son." Poseidon said encouragingly, where Zeus snorted rudely.

_Like that'll happen…_

**Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"**

"For you, maybe," Hermes shook his head towards him. "Seeing as you won't be the person that'll be fighting all of the monsters off."

"**What did the Oracle say **_**exactly?**_**" Chiron pressed. "This is important."**

"Extremely," Chiron agreed, then sighed once. "Though I doubt he'd tell me all of it."

"Why do you doubt that?" Demeter asked, genuinely worried.

"Some lines seem more personal than others, where in some cases, the campers would rather keep it to themselves and try to work it out, rather than seek advice from me: even when the majority of these lines aren't as personal as they think they are, where I could have saved them a lot of stress and worry."

**My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She … she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."**

"**I knew it," Grover said.**

**Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"**

**I didn't want to tell him.**

Chiron sighed sadly in defeat. _Did they ever?_

**What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many.**

"Poor Dear," Demeter said again. She'd have to have a quiet word with her children – if she could anyway – about the way they behaved, for future references.

**And the last line—I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a quest and tell me, **_**Oh, by the way, you'll fail.**_

"Yeah," Ares admitted, "I don't get that: it says he'll manage to find the lightning bolt, but he'll fail as well…like, what the hell?"

Athena rolled her eyes, glancing at Poseidon sadly, as she too had already figured it out. "Not now, Ares," she sighed, "let's just get on with this."

**How could I confess that?**

"**No," I said. "That's about it."**

**He studied my face. **

"So," Apollo asked Chiron, "why don't you just say you know he's hiding something, and persuade him to tell you what it is?"

"Because," the centaur answered, "if a child has chosen to keep something from me, it's normally because they're either shocked or stunned about what they've just heard and need time to think it through alone first, they're worried or scared about how I'll react, or they are in denial of a certain aspect of the prophecy. Therefore, I can't just force them to tell me, because that would make them feel worse than they already do, and that goes against what I desire to teach them. At the end of the day all I can do is advise them, and train them as best as I am able."

The council nodded at the centaur respectfully, as Poseidon decided to continue.

**"Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."**

"See?" Chiron pointed out, as the council nodded their approval.

**I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.**

"**Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"**

"**Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"**

"And as suspected," Hades glared at the centaur, "you automatically blame me!"

"I apologise," Chiron told him, "I know now that it's not you: …it just made sense to my future character that it was you."

Hades continue to glare at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"I should hope so," he replied, sounding very sullen and moodily, "seeing as I'm sure I'd have no such interest in the little…._squabble_, my two brothers are all up in arms in!"

"Although," Poseidon pointed out, "you have sent more than one monster after my son specifically for some reason…"

As Hades preferred to remain silent after that, Poseidon thought it best to read onwards.

"**Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.**

"**Yes, quite. Someone who harbours a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."**

Upon hearing this Hades became increasingly angrier with the centaur and his opinions.

"Anything else," he hissed sarcastically, "you feel the need to add?"

"No," the centaur replied, sounding a lot less calm than he appeared to be.

"Hurmmm…"

**I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. **

**"Hades."**

"I'm not _that_ evil… am I?" Hades addressed the council.

"Nah," Apollo decided after a while of munching on candy bars, "you're too cheap and lazy to be properly evil!"

**Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."**

The only possibility, Hades ranted to himself. The only possibility: yeah right! The only possibility if you'd have thought about the situation less than five seconds maybe! No…there's sure to be more possibilities even then!

"Chocolate dear?" Persephone asked, as she handed him the box she had conjured after ordering all of Apollo's sugary snacks.

"No thank you," he replied courteously, before he went back to brooding.

_Are you okay?_ She asked hesitantly over the mental pathway their marriage had formed for them.

_No_, he answered briefly, but, upon sensing his wife's growing distress, he stopped, collected himself, and wrapped his hands around him. _But I will be though: don't you worry about it sweetheart. _

**A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"**

"**A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."**

"**Yes, but—but Hades hates **_**all**_** heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon…"**

"**A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued.**

"**Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."**

"**Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."**

Everyone chuckled at that.

"Something tells me though," Dionysus shook his head, "that list will have gotten even longer by the time the books are done!"

"Besides," Zeus and Hades stood in agreement, "presently, we have nothing against the boy: therefore he's technically safe right now."

"Thank us," Demeter sighed in relief.

"Where I only hope it stays that way," Hestia said gravely as Poseidon continued.

"**But a quest to …" Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."**

"But it's also highly boring," Ares groaned at the Satyr's cowardice. "It's like none of you want me to have any fun!"

"Ares," Aphrodite spoke up softly; her face looked a right mess from the tears that streaked across it. "enough."

"**Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. **

"No I did not!" Hades counteracted. "Why can't that fact sink into your head?"

"Maybe," Athena suggested, "it's down to the little tiny face that the future Chiron cannot hear you plead your innocence: where they cannot join up the dots to work out who really is behind this as they don't have as much time and the right atmosphere – such as us – to study the facts and work out that Kronos at least it trying to rise again?"

**"He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to under stand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."**

_"The truth shall be known_

_If the Dead Lord is guilty_

_Or not: we shall see…_

"You like?" Apollo smiled at them excitedly.

"Um, yup," Artemis nodded her head, not wanting to cause a fuss by insulting him.

"Yei!"

**A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. **

"Please!" Hades scoffed in outrage at that. "It was twice!"

"Oh, because that makes it _so_ much better!" Poseidon frowned at him angrily.

"Besides," the lord of the dead amended, "it was my future self that gave the orders: I had nothing to do with it: so I hold no blame what so ever!"

**It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light.**

"Okay, that's probably true." Hades admitted, feeling sorry for the boy, "but once again I stress that _I'm_ currently innocent: where I wouldn't attempt it a second time in future."

**Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed. **

**I was ready to take him on.**

"Well, then," Artemis shook her head at the boy's foolish bravely, as she commented ominously, "this isn't going to end well."

"Or go anything the way you planned it to," Athena amended, as Poseidon had already carried on.

**Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld…**

"Ah-ha!" Persephone grinned, happy that she figured it out, "that's what's most important to him!" Her face saddened instantly, as Aphrodite began to cry once again, "oh, but…no!"

"Hopefully," Hera said calmly, glancing at Apollo, "something can be done to change certain things…?"

"Only time will tell," Apollo replied mysteriously, which didn't exactly fill everyone with consequence.

**Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god.**

**Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.**

"Those better not be my pinochle cards!" Dionysus yelled, furious.

"Who else plays pinochle other than you?" Zeus asked him dubiously as Chiron stifled a laugh. "It's not exactly a popular game now, is it?"

Dionysus looked at him in astonishment, "Popular?" he choked, "it's only one of the best games ever invented: and one of the only ways that curbs my boredom while I'm stuck at that blasted camp! Why I aught to…"

"Dionysus!" Demeter scolded him, "will you calm down! After all, it's not like the cards can't be replaced in a fraction of a second."

"And even if it was a one of a kind set," Hermes comforted him, "it happened in the future: so just remember to carry them around with you, that's all."

"Yeah," Ares laughed, "because I thought everyone knew that if you left anything alone with a Satyr then you're asking for trouble!"

"Ares!"

"Oh, shut up Demeter!" he yelled at her. "You know full well it's true!"

**The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail? This was suicide.**

"**Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."**

"Because they turn to brainless idiots when they're fighting, honey," Hera sighed, as she entwined her hands in her husband's, "and don't you dare deny it, mister!"

"**Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said.**

"Yes, Chiron," Hades glanced sweetly at the centaur, while his voice was like steel and dripping sarcasm, "Suspecting and knowing are not the same thing."

Chiron just shook his head as he threw down his towel. _Why me_, he sighed heavily. _He's never going to let this go…_

"**Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades—and I imagine Poseidon does—they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges.**

"Lucky little bastards." Ares mumbled, as Aphrodite glared darkly at him, but choosing to remain silent: her heart in turmoil both because of her own troubles and the possible horrid death of Poseidon's love. _It's not supposed to be like this…_

**They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"**

"**You're saying I'm being used."**

A bewildered silence met this statement. This certainly wasn't what they were _initially _born to be, seeing as they were made out of the love between two people. But without the reinforcement of that love shown throughout their lives, it did certainly seem to look as though they were being used to take care of the majority of earth's monsters, settle issues and disputes that occurred between each god as well as clean up their messes that they leaved on, and on occasion, complete various favours for their godly parent. It certainly seemed like they were being used from this point of view.

"That's not the case, Athena argued, "we also love you and wish that we could show you all exactly how we feel-"

"But we just can't," Demeter sighed, "because of the rules- these stupid rules…"

"If only we could help them out with their battles," Hermes said, "indirectly if we have to: or set up a better system for dealing with the monsters – as it's not fair that they have to deal with the majority of the threats…especially seeing as how the monsters just won't stay in Tartarus."

"After we read the books," Zeus repeated, "we'll discuss these issues, to see if anything can be done to better things. Now, carry on Poseidon, as I'm quite anxious to finish for today."

The others groaned again as Poseidon continued.

"**I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."**

**My dad needs me.**

"Of course I do!" Poseidon smiled warmly, as Artemis braced herself for any negative feedback, "I'll always need you."

**Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. **

_Ouch, _Dionysus winced,_ that must hurt like hell…_

_Wow_, Apollo smiled_, that sounds like fun…especially being around all of the pretty colours!_

**I didn't know whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me.**

"Because of _somebody_." Poseidon said, glancing at Zeus.

"I'm not going into this again." Zeus sighed.

**I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"**

"**I had my suspicions. As I said … I've spoken to the Oracle, too."**

**I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now.**

**After all, I was holding back information too.**

"Stick to that judgment," Poseidon advised his son, as he _really _didn't' think he could handle talking about _that c_ertain prophecy right about now!

"**So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."**

"Yup," Ares grinned.

"Oh, don't worry," Hermes comforted him, "it'll be a piece of cake!"

"**Check," Chiron said.**

"**Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."**

"Yup," Apollo grinned.

"Just don't be tempted to use it once you find it," Zeus warned him playfully.

"**Check."**

"**And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."**

"Yup," Hermes cheered. "Stick with that, and you can't go wrong!"

"Really?" Athena asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!" the trio exclaimed.

"Unlike you," Apollo sighed, "we are actually trying to lighten the atmosphere a little here, and you know, psyche everyone up a little."

"And it wouldn't harm you at all," Hermes added, "if you'd just play along."

_Boys…_

"**That's about right." **

**I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.**

Dionysus glared at the book in the sea gods hands. He'd get that Satyr back for eating his precious cards! He'd make him pay….one way or another.

"**Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.**

_Coward, _Ares snorted at him_. I hope finds this quest frighteningly unbearable – that will make up for his behaviour towards me today!_

"**You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you."**

"**Oh…" He shifted his hooves. "No… it's just that satyrs and underground places… well…"** **He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminium bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If … if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."**

"The satyrs a good friend." Hestia said, smiling. "I quite like him, after all."

"He's alright, I suppose," Zeus murmured as he smiled openly at his wife in kindness. "Okay, okay, he's decent!"

"Thank you, love," she smiled.

"And Percy's so loyal," Persephone spoke up, "I'd love to be his friend."

"So would I," Hestia agreed, as the two of them immediately dived into a deep conversation about loyalty and love.

"Moving on!" Poseidon announced, as he began reading once again .

**I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic.**

"Aw," the majority of the females cooed at the image, as the swiftly went to send him their reassurances. Hell, even Aphrodite managed a small smile.

**Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.**

"**All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."**

"**The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America.**

"**Where?"**

Athena rolled her eyes. _Surprise, surprise…_

**Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."**

"**Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane—"**

"NO!"

"What?" Zeus asked, looking around the room innocently.

"**No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?**

"Never," Poseidon informed them, "as far as I know anyway…especially since Sally's parents died in a plane crash."

"Which I'm immensely sorry for," Zeus sighed, as Poseidon nodded once, looking more than slightly surprised at his brothers words.

"Thanks," Poseidon responded, as he continued.

"**Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."**

**Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.**

"**Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."**

"**That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."**

"Oh…" Hermes sighed, "I'm just betting it's Annabeth."

"Most probably," Chiron nodded, "especially seeing as he would need someone more academically and analytically natured to accompany him."

"**Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"**

"Don't call my daughter stupid!" Athena yelled.

"How does suicidal suit you then?" Apollo grinned at her, which only infuriated her further.

**The air shimmered behind Chiron.**

**Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.**

Athena smiled proudly. _This is the day, _she declared_, that my daughter is to be part of a quest!_

"**I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain," she said.**

"Seaweed brain?" Poseidon raised his eyebrows high, before chuckling slightly. "Like mother like daughter."

"You sure she doesn't like him?" Persephone giggled innocently, "as it sure does look like she does from this point of view!"

"Urgh!"

"…Should I take that as a yes?"

"**Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."**

"Damn right." Athena said as she chose to ignore the taunts and whistles that were going off all around her.

"**If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, Wise Girl?"**

"Athena always has a plan." Hermes and Apollo mimicked the wisdom goddess, but she was determined nothing was going to stop her be happy and proud of her daughter on this one specific moment in time.

**Her cheeks coloured. "Do you want my help or not?"**

**The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.**

Aphrodite smiled slightly at the naivety of the pair…_they sure had a lot to learn about each other, that's for sure!_

"**A trio," I said. "That'll work."**

"**Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."**

**Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.**

"**No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Poseidon sighed, as everyone slowly got to their feet and awaited Zeus' command on what to do next.

"Right," he commanded, "we'll meet back here at nine tomorrow morning: where I'll trust that you'll all return well rested and ready to begin again."

Athena felt the need to add, "also when you have time, use it to mull over all the information you have learned from today: the bad and the good. As we'll most likely grow and develop these issues as the novels go on."

"And therefore," Zeus smiled genuinely at them all, "without further a due, I bid you farewell."

With that, they were each blown gently but forcefully out of the room, back towards their palaces –or, in Chiron's case, camp – for a night of rest and relaxation, ready to meet the new dawn that was soon on the horizon.

_**(A.N. And there you have another chapter! Hope you liked it, and once again I'm truly sorry about the delay. Thanks for you guys that took the time to review my work – where you know that if you have any question or comment you want to ask me you can always let me know through a review or PM – and I'll see you all soon!**_

_**T.T.F.N.**_

_**)**_


	13. Apologies and Explanations

_**A.N. Hi I know this has been a long time – almost the whole summer holidays in fact- so I'm just gonna say I'm really sorry. You wouldn't believe how guilty I feel. **_

_**I actually finished the next four chapters in June/ early Julyish – and If you know about my chapters in this story that's a LOT of work! I had nothing to do on that two weeks, so I was working on the fanfiction basically non stop, hoping to give you a nice surprise. Sadly just when I finished that fourth chapter a virus hit my computer and deleted every single thing that was on my computer – thousands of pics and documents, etc, and yes, including the chapters for this. Instead of trying to re-write the fanfiction straight away, I waited to save up enough money to get my computer repaired, - which finally happened in middle August, but unfortunately the guy still couldn't get my stuff back, so I was just left feeling depressed and frustrated, so I took a little break from the writing world. **_

_**Now I'm finally back to try to start again, because I remember the promise I made to you guys. It might be a little rusty to start off with, because I haven't been around this story in a while, but hopefully I can remember most of what I wrote and can quickly get back into the hang of things.**_

_**Okay, instead of doing a mini story this time, I'm just going to jump straight into the reading. The reason for this is - I originally did a very LONG mini story that became a chapter itself before I started the reading again. In this chapter, it explained a few things, opened and developed plot ideas, and developed individual characters stories, eg, Hades/Persephone's building of the new palace and Demeter's thoughts of it, Zeus and Hera's talk about the vow, and what they were going to do after the reading of the books along with explaining what they needed to do to change the laws afterwards. I wrote some one on one time with Poseidon and his son, some time for Chiron to reflect on his attitude, Dionysus working on his prank for Apollo….etc….a lot as you can see. **_

_**But the thing is, I wrote these scenes so exactly so long ago now that I know I'd never be able to do it again properly – I can't even remember them all that clearly! So, what I'm doing to do instead is just give you a few sentences to explain any developments that happened, in hope that I'll actually be getting the chapter back soon (I've found this new company that's supposed to be good with these type of things)PLEASE READ THE SHORT DESCRIPTIONS BELOW if you want to understand the plot a little better. **_

_**Hera and Zeus**_ - this is the most _**important**_ _**scene**_ that I wrote about, as it explained why Zeus was so reluctant to talk about changing the rules, and why he always said that they'd 'sort it out later`. Now, as the books say, these rules that the immortals are supposed to be following have been written eons ago and have always been followed, as they're nearly impossible to change.

The reason for this is (_explanation might be slightly different than my original chapter that I'll hopefully be posting up in a couple of weeks)_ these rules not only affect the gods and demi-gods, but also the humans that they're meant to be protecting, the natural balance of the universe, the 'monster society' –bad and good, and a number of other powerful deities out there.

Therefore, if the gods want to change a rule, they must get a certain number of people to agree to them wholeheartedly (eg, they must truly want this and must be truly willing to work together as a team to achieve it) – the council that makes up this decision is pretty big, where, in order to change, add or drop a ruler ALL the major gods, ALL 6 of the minor gods that would be chosen randomly to represent all the minor gods out there, ALL three of the fates have to agree wholeheartedly to the change.(maybe + a few extra deities – though can't think of them right now.)

So, as you can see, where the problem lies, can't you? Every one of these members has to agree with everyone else's opinion/belief, and every member has to trust each other wholeheartedly so that they can work together without having even a slither of a doubt about the situation.

Before the readings of the book, could you imagine Ares even being on the same side as Athena in anything – much less working with her and trusting her judgement so much, and vice versa? What about Zeus, Poseidon and Hades? Hades and Demeter? At the present moment in time, they wouldn't even be able to assemble the council together for a meeting, as they'll automatically fail the conditions needed to change the rules – so that's why Zeus doesn't say anything – he knows it's impossible at this point in time.

Why then, I hear you asking, doesn't he just tell them the condition to shut them up and hope that they'll start getting on better with each other faster? Well, he can't, can't he – because then the agreement that they would come to wouldn't be done purely or wholeheartedly – it wouldn't be real enough, and they'd inwardly still have doubts with each other.

So, he's quietly sitting back and praying that each of the major gods will learn to trust each other for once, and are willing to view the world in a different perspective than what they're used to (e.g. instead of Athena being so uptight and always insisting on a plan, she'll be able to understand Apollo's casual, comedic, laid back version of the world and vice versa – so they'll both appreciate each other more. And from this appreciation, they'll learn to trust each others judgement and from this they'll be able to work as a team and do what they wish.

After the gods are more or less sure about the decision to work in unison as a good, strong team, they'll reach the second stage of the task – that is trying to get the minor gods on their side (where they'll have to convince them all, or the majority of them, as they would not know which of the minor gods would be representing them all at the meeting/council, once they've gathered them together. E.g, it could be any of the minor gods, such as Iris, Persephone, Triton…anyone! So they have to be careful. Only after the major gods are pretty confident that they have the minor gods on their side will they then call the council with the Fates present (+ any other deities/mystical beings that I might wish to add). Then together, the council makes the decision: which basically means the fates (+ these possible other deities) will be studying them all closely, as the final decision is up to them.

Another problem Zeus is facing is Time. After all, the major gods have been alive and kicking for over 3000 years, and in all that time they've only been in a complete agreement once (which was when they defeated the Titans, and most of them weren't born yet!) So, you can imagine how much pressure Zeus feels under right now, can't you? Plus, in order to save the future (a.k.a. Luke and the other demigods) they have to act immediately, as before they can work hard with the demigods to show that they care for them and to avoid the disastrous future: they actually have to get the rule change to actually happen first! (Now do you pity him?) Helping Luke and the others realise that the gods do actually care for them will take years: so the major gods basically have to work out ALL their problems with each other by the end of the last book!

A hard task, you might say…maybe even impossible…but that's the only hope that they've got.

Maybe Zeus will get a brain wave…maybe he'd be desperate enough to invite some of the minor gods to read the books with them later on…

But those are the main facts that he's just now shared with his wife.

(_That's the simplest explanation on the situation I could think of, but if you've got any questions for me – ask them, and I'll get back to you soon. Lol, even that simple explanation was almost a thousand words, so you can imagine what the actual one is! )_

Back to the Hera and Zeus part: the short version was that Hera could see that Zeus looked pretty agitated when they entered his chambers for the night, so she gently tried to get him to open up to her – to trust her once again with his thoughts, like the married couple that she wants them to be. As the pressure of all the information was getting to much for him to bare alone, he confided in her (and you readers ;)) about the conditions that were needed to actually change the rule. After a debate they decided not to tell the others about the conditions, but send them subtle hints to get along with each other better – with some jokes about some team building exercises, some fun nights out to enjoy each others hobbies or simply locking people in broom cupboards and see what the result of that was (hint, Demeter and Hades.) the pair got more intimately closer, where a stronger level of trust was built and they fell asleep in each others arms…..but to get Hera to trust her husband completely once again, it was suggested that she'd need to his reaction when an irresistible gorgeous supermodel started flirting/attacking him…

**Persephone and Hades **– this was the third scene that I'd done – which was written as a short comedy scene than anything else, where Hades and his wife was in the Underworld redecorating the castle, where Persephone just blew up the entire west side of the castle, with a lot of the south and north parts two – with dynamite, as Hades was hurriedly running down the highest tower on the west side of the castle in horror….cue a very shocked Hades in ragged, torn and dirty clothes and a childish giggling wife laughing at his misfortune.

However, the smirk is wiped off Persephone's face when she realises that she's just blew up not only the kitchen's and the one available bathroom: but all her makeup and jewellery…not to mention clothes! And with all of Hades' minions gone off for their only break of the night/day, they are left watching all the boulders and glass still tumbling down from the ruins like a landslide.

However, Persephone gets the last laugh when she suggests – with no where to sleep – that they have to spend the night at her mothers, being spoilt and petted and made to watch re-runs of nature documentaries and the creation of cereal show.

This left Hades in a very difficult position – as he knew that none of the other gods/goddesses would let him stay over at this time of night…with the possible exception of Apollo and Zeus, and there was NO WAY he was going over there to embarrass himself by telling them of this ridiculous tale. He felt that his only option was to lie to his wife and tell her that this was the perfect opportunity for her to spend some one on one time with her mother, and for him to also bond closer with his male relatives.

Finally, after more rounds of insults and cheeky but lovable comments, Hades takes her to his sister's palace and after some surprisingly nice words from Demeter –who was so pleased to have her daughter come to stay with her for a while – she bids Hades goodnight and watches him zap himself away….not knowing that he secretly slept under a rock that night, with Cerebus drooling on his freezing toes….

(I won't talk much about all the other stories that I did: as I'll use them later on as some of the mini stories instead. Let's just say that during the night Chiron thought more about the brutal way that he speaks to demigods, and agrees that he should take Aphrodite's help: as it could mean that more demigods will confide in him after coming back from the Oracle – meaning that he could possibly save more lives, or make them easier.

Dionysus meanwhile, still hasn't gotten over Apollo's stunt in the last chapter, where he's cunningly plotting his revenge. Artemis, as you've probably guessed is feeling frustrated with herself, as she doesn't know why she can't take her mind off the boy in the story: therefore she's feeling both resentful and sympathetic towards him. Athena sadly at this point of the story is still just Athena, but is ever so slightly warming to Poseidon. Hestia's just her usual loveable self. Hermes is having trouble sleeping as he simply cannot stop thinking about his son. Knowing this, Apollo comes visiting and helps remind him of all the good things that Luke has ever done – while promising Hermes that they'll soon be coming up with all sorts of well thought out plans to help out his son…though they'd need someone who could actually accomplish well thought out plans to help them….Poseidon meanwhile decided to spend the night watching over Percy, to make sure he was alright, while promising Gabe so much pain and misery that the Fields of Punishment will seem like a kiddies carnival when he was through with him.

And then, if I haven't left anyone out, there's the love triangle between Aphrodite, Ares and Hephaestus – the scene that I actually wrote first, as it was the scene that the majority of you wanted to know about. The reason why I haven't included this story with the two I described briefly at the top is that, I think you deserve to hear it better than in that sort of form – as it's one of the most major of the mini stories. I tried to re-write it from my mind, but it didn't sound right, so I decided to leave it as it is and work it in through the reading of the book (as, after all, there's 5 books to get through, and you don't want everything to be sorted out in the first book, do you?) so, I'm just going to move on now and start the reading chapter. The only things that I'll let you know is that Aphrodite tried to head straight over to Hephaestus' chambers to try to explain her actions – even though she's still not sure what she did wrong or what she wants…only that she knows she's hurt someone that didn't deserve to get hurt – but is stopped by Ares, who's wondering if they're still going out to dinner. Sad to say, Aphrodite couldn't deal with all this sudden love drama that was happening all around her and fled to her rooms to cry and try to get all her emotions under control…and to try to find out what exactly that she wants….

_**I know that this is a little rushed, but I just wanted to give you something to think about while I'm writing the next chapter – and dw, I am writing this chapter. If I can, I'll post the real chapter up of what happened here, so at least you have a better understanding of what I'm on about. I'll have the next chapter up in a week maximum (though I won't be able to give a date about the rest.) thanks for standing by me, and I'll have the next chapter up soon. **_

_**Feel free to message me if you've got any questions: I'm happy to help anyone.**_

_**Finally, to end this …I'm not even sure what I can call this, as it's not really an A.N. or a chapter…anyway, I want to say thanks for the people who took the time to review me. Further, I'd like to thank two in particular as they always send me a message after every chapter, along with advice or just fun comments: so thank you **__**Anime Princess**__** for sticking by me and encouraging me to keep at it. And thanks to **__**aLe-aLi16**__** for your fun comments and advice- would never have done it without you! **_

_**T.T.F.N.**_


	14. Colours and Rainbows

_**A.N. And here you go – the chapter as I promised. Hope you like it :) **_

_**Chapter 14 – Colours and Rainbows**_

Apollo began laughing softly to himself in complete contentment as the sun slowly began to travel across the sky the following day. Gently wrapping the covers around himself once more he sighed and gave a lazy smile, as this was the very first luy-in that he had had for the last three thousand years.

_I think that I might get used to this,_ he mused quietly to himself as his head sank back deeply against the pillows: _this is even better than ice cream on a hot summers day!_

He chuckled again. _Maybe when the books are over I should do this again more often: I'm sure the guys won't mind – hell, they'd love to have more opportunities to race my gorgeous car across the sky. _He smirked happily as he imagined what he could do with all the newly gained free time, as numerous opportunities suddenly floated to the surface of his mind. _Sounds like a plan!_

And with this thought he silently attempted to drift off back to sleep for a few more hours before the start of the meeting. However, the more he tried to empty his mind, the more his mind began to focus on the one thing that was troubling him. _Hermes_, he groaned in defeat as he slowly adjusted himself to a seated position. _I hope things won't be too bad in this chapter for him,_ he thought glumly, _as I'm not sure how much more he can take…_

Moving from the bed, he summoned his clothes from the floor to his body instantly, before walking out the door of his chambers. _Maybe he'll feel better after playing some good morning pranks on all our dear family members; as after all, I haven't had many opportunities to do this before now…and they'll be completely unprepared…_

The sound of his cackling laughter could be heard from many miles away as he finally transported himself directly into the private chambers of his beloved brother.

_-(The scene changes back to the throne room, where all of the gods and goddesses are slowly gathering.)-_

As Chiron hastily made his way back to his place in the hall at 8:55 that morning, he was pleasantly surprised that he was the first one there. Feeling comforted with the knowledge, he gently lay down comfortably as he turned his head towards the enormous entrance and awaited the rest of the gods.

"How are you today, dear Chiron?" a female's voice echoed across the room in such a surprising manner that he soon entangled himself trying to stand and bow in respect while at the same time still searching for the mysterious speaker. As he finally freed himself he began to search the room cautiously, but soon relaxed as the turned once more to face the flames of the hearth.

"Lady Hestia," he bowed deeply at the child, in apology for failing to address her sooner. "I am as well as to be expected with all that is happening around us. And yourself?"

She looked up upon him kindly as she manoeuvred her small form to sit gently besides the centaur and the hearth. "I am fine," she smiled warmly, "though I'm wondering if everyone else is, seeing as not even Athena nor Hera as returned yet…"

On that note, the two of them were shocked further when they saw Apollo and Hermes entering the room almost arm in arm, laughing loudly as they clung to their sides – perhaps in fear of bursting if they weren't careful. Without a word they went and seated themselves upon their thrones.

Feeling overly curious, the two beings on the floor looked up upon them warily.

"All right," Hestia sighed as she shook her head in bemusement, "what have you done to them this time?"

The duo's laughter only increased in volume. "Whatever do you mean?" Apollo asked innocently as Hermes sent the pair on the floor a highly confused look, that appeared so convincing that Hestia felt ashamed of daring to accuse her poor little nephews of anything.

Chiron however wasn't so gullible.

"Where are the other gods?" he asked them boldly, "as I do not think even Zeus would go back on an order of being here at the correct time –"

"Maybe," Hermes grinned at the centaur, "he – much like myself and my darling brother here – is enjoying what has to be the first luy-in we've had in centuries…possibly millennia's!"

"While I don't doubt that you all are finding this break of yours from your duties and responsibilities rather enjoyable, if you truly want me to believe your highly suspicious tale, please inform me the reason why Athena and your other level minded relatives are happily tucked away in bed, whilst the both of you – some of the least level minded beings that I've had the …er…, honour to meet are up and about and are ready to start the day?"

As Hermes was about to enter a comeback, the door to the throne room exploded inwards, and a vast number of angry gods and goddesses stormed through the door, which sent the confident looks that the duo were currently showing, to look rather fearful and pale.

As Hestia and Chiron were about to ask what the problem was, one look back to the newly found mob answered any questions they might have had: whereupon Hestia lowered her head into her hands for being tricked so easily by the pair of them.

Athena suddenly stepped out of the crowd, where her newly formed orange skin, with light white flecks of colour shone like luminous paint through the room. Grabbing Apollo by the throat, with her voice sounding similar to a deadly rattler snake, she whispered, "What. Did. You. Do?"

Unnerved, the sun god easily shrugged out of her grip, grinned smugly once, and started to explain. "Nothing really: just a new painting charm that I wanted to try out."

"Painting charm?" a purple skinned Dionysus raised his eyebrows high in disbelief at the elder god's cheek.

"Yup," Hermes grinned at his half brother. "A simple, harmless painting spell that will wear off in a couple of hours…_probably_," he whispered quietly to himself, "so there's no harm done. We just wanted to see how well the spell worked on gods, as we'd already tried it on mortals and objects_...plus to see how pranking in the early hours of the morning would feel like for once!"_

"So," Apollo finished for them, "no harm, no fowl, right?"

"Oh, not quite," Hades interrupted glumly, "as I want you to answer the simple question of: why the _hell_ did you choose me to be pink?"

"Yeah," Demeter sniggered, "or me to be red? You know I hate that blasted colour! It's too bright and reminds me of blood and death all the time!"

"Well," Aphrodite tried to cheer them up, "I'd have loved to have your colours, as they remind me of love and beauty! But nooooo I had to be gray! I mean," she ranted onwards, momentarily forgetting about her love life problems, "you had thousands of colours to choose from, and you made me gray? Nothing goes with gray!"

"Except more gray?" Dionysus smirked. "Don't worry, Dem, it could have been worse: you could have been a mixture of white, blue and orange dots like Artemis," which earned him a 'hrrrmph!` "or green and red crosses like Zeus, who looks like a Christmas decoration gone wrong!"

"Hey!" Zeus yelled in a slightly hurt tone at his son, who shrugged evilly.

"Not my fault, dad," he answered cheekily, "I was only stating the truth. So, cheer up, Dem: it's not so bad!"

"Easy for you to say," she answered him grumpily as she took her seat once again, "purple is your favourite colour!"

"I kinda like mine," Poseidon grinned at his brothers, who looked towards him enviously, "as the green and blue swirls are a perfect replica of the oceans waves."

"Mine's fine," Hephaestus answered reluctantly, with his hand propping up his royal blue face with the smallest trace of black and pink in his hair, as he leaned forward on the arm of his throne.

"As am I," replied a golden Hera, as she smiled upon the two boys. "Where I'm guessing that every colour here has a different meaning, or perhaps reflects a part of one's personality?"

"Got it in one, mom," Apollo grinned at her, happy that she'd both guessed it right and loved the colour that the charm chose for her. "Though some of the colours are harder to explain than others."

"Well," Hestia smiled, "I'd love to hear your theories on why the charm chose these specific colours for them."

"Firstly," Hermes confessed, "the painting charm is more than just a charm for painting something. We – the two of us that is – actually invented it to eventually be able to tell what the wearer is thinking, what mood the wearer is in, the general personality of the wearer and the wearer's loyalties. It's still in development, so it still needs a lot of work done on it to be successful: but it's just been proven that it can get a general reading from you guys about a lot of these things."

"Plus," Apollo felt the need to add, "since all the features that Hermes just listed tend to change as an individual grows up/changes, the reading only shows what's true right at this moment: where it could be different in say, a week or two after we finish the books and learn a lot more from each other.

"So," he continued, "with that in mind, who wants to volunteer to be the first person that the two of us will read?"

"No one," Zeus commanded firmly, as his red and green stripes glowed fiercely with the outburst, "at least, not until we finish this chapter, as at this rate we'll never complete them."

"Furthermore," Hera ordered, "because of your antics, I propose that the next break will only be long enough to hear your explanations, then we shall carry on with the next chapter: to conserve time."

A lot of protests were met to this declaration, but one sharp look from her stormy husband turned all the protests to mild grumbles, and after a while there was a complete silence.

"Right then," Zeus carried on, "who wants to read the next chapter?"

"I will then, to get it over with," Hephaestus sighed as he turned to the right page. "This chapter is called, '**I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus."**

"Awesome!" a brown and red coloured Ares yelled, as the rest of the room rolled their eyes at his antics.

Meanwhile, the normally calm and collected Hephaestus continued to glare hatefully at the war god before stating, "If you're going to interrupt me every five second with your stupid one word comments then you can just leave."

As no one knew what to make of this sudden outburst, the forge god continued to read onwards.

**It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.**

"Seriously, Uncle P," Apollo interrupted, as he knew the blue bodied god would not verbally attack him with as much malice as he did Ares, "you really need to build yourself a bigger cabin!"

"Yeah," Hermes snickered sarcastically, "your son is such a hoarder it's unbelievable!"

Meanwhile Hestia and Hera gave them both a stern look of warning.

"Boys," Hera sighed, "please don't make fun of this young demigod: it's not his fault that he has nothing of value to accompany him at this present time."

"You mean, in our future's present time?" Artemis asked, her blue and silver hair glowing brighter and brighter the more confused she became.

"Or," Athena interrupted, "you could have just said his present time: as it would've been far more accurate."

"Or she could have stopped at the 'him' so that we wouldn't be having this argument altogether," Zeus whispered to Hades, who gave a small, genuine smile and agreed wholeheartedly with the statement.

"Plus it would have been far more accurate if she did," he answered, which sent the both of them into snickers of laughter.

However, upon noticing the exchange, the argument instantly ceased, as everyone turned their attention towards the two men in confusion of seeing the both of them getting along so well.

"What's wrong with the two of you?" Persephone raised her pink eyebrows so high that they looked out of place on her delicate yellow face.

"Uh-oh…nothing," Hades stammered, as Zeus tried to gain composure again, "nothing at all."

"Rigggght…" Hera observed the pair silently for a while, before signalling to her son to continue reading.

**The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. **

"Loaned?" Poseidon frowned at that last statement, "but doesn't that suggest that he has to pay it back?"

"Yeah," Hermes added, "I was wondering about that too. I mean, it's not like they'll be using the money on stuff that they actually want to buy, like iPods or guitars or games – but surviving essentials like food and travel money. So, seeing as they're doing us a favour, shouldn't we be giving them this money automatically as part of a quest with no strings attached?"

"Especially," Athena continued where Hermes left off, "seeing that some of these individuals cannot afford to repay us this money."

"What's more," Demeter said, as she thought back at the number of times that her children were sent on a quest, "for a quest as important as this one – don't you think that's not enough money to give them? Especially seeing as how one of them is Poseidon's son, where there'll be immensely powerful monsters chasing after them twenty-four seven? I'd give them at least double that or more seeing as how you'll never know what will pop up on a quest, or how much you'll need."

"Exactly," Apollo nodded his head, "they might need the money to trade, buy or bribe along their journey as well as food and travel money."

"And what about if both set of clothes get dirty," Aphrodite felt the need to add, "where they couldn't afford to get a new set?" Her expression became suddenly stern, "I will not allow any of my children to become common thieves…"

"-Relax Aphrodite," Hestia interrupted her, "and let Chiron give you all the answer that you all want to hear."

"Well," Chiron hesitated nervously; fighting the desire to flee the room as more than half of the room's occupants sent him glary daggers. "Firstly we used to give them money automatically as you all described; but stopped for two reasons. One, Dionysus thought that giving out a loan would teach them all about responsibility, where the shortage of money would teach them how to survive with the bare essentials or simply without it. He thought that it would make them more aware with what they had, so that they wouldn't take anything that they had with them for granted while going on the quest: where they wouldn't come to rely on using tonnes of money, as there'll surely come a time when each demigod would have to go into hiding with nothing at all to help them but their minds.

"Secondly," the centaur continued with his explanation, "as much as you all think it does, the camp does not receive money out of thin air. We earn all our money from our crops and various other services. From this money we have to buy materials to make weapons, clothes, food, money for the staff, the plot of land, medicines and antidotes, and many other things. That therefore leaves us with hardly any money left over to assist them on their quests, but we do so nonetheless. If you all truly want to stand by your children and see them protected to the highest standard possible, then I'm afraid that you'd all have to make a contribute to your children and the camp – as I have a feeling that soon we'll need all the help that we can get."

By the end of this speech the rest of the room's occupants could only stare out into space: not knowing whether to feel shocked, or angry, or sad, or ashamed of themselves. After a while of the dreaded silence, Hephaestus began to read once more.

**These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold.**

**Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions—whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.**

**Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. **

"Well," Athena chuckled softly, trying to break the tension that was in the air, "at least I know exactly what I'm getting my little girl!"

A few mumbles of laughter and half smiles sprouted through the room.

"And by all accounts," Demeter assured her sadly, "it's a good present."

"The best," Hera agreed as the reading began again.

**She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek,**

"Obviously," Dionysus rolled his eyes as Demeter smacked him on the arm.

"Hey!"

"Now now, children," Hera warned them both, whereupon they stopped whatever they were doing and calmed down.

"Children," Demeter scoffed under her breath, "we're almost the same age!"

"What was that?" Hera's ear's missed nothing.

"Oh, nothing, sister," she answered, "I was just asking Hephaestus if we were almost on the next page?"

Hephaestus momentarily stuck his glum head up from the book and answered his aunt sourly, "we certainly won't be if you don't stop asking me these ridiculous questions!"

The room lapsed into silence once more, as Dionysus took it in his head to whisper to Demeter, "Nice one."

"What?" she asked, momentarily distracted.

"The lie," he smiled genuinely at her, "I never knew you had it in you!"

"Well," she smiled slyly back at him, "you don't know half the things about me, so I'm not surprised."

"Then," he concluded simply, as he saw Hephaestus getting prepared once again to read, "I'll take great pleasure in finding out."

But Demeter wasn't willing to let it go. "Oh, really? Then I guess I can say the same about you, can't I? Seeing as I'd never imagine you even smiling nicely at a person before- let alone teaching children important life lessons!

"Oh, yes," she concluded, as she noticed Hephaestus had already started to read, "I'll be keeping a very close eye on _you_ from now on!"

"Then bring it on!"

**to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.**

"Mist," Ares yawned, as Hephaestus sent him a dirty look, "get used to it already!"

**Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday,"**

"Urgh," Hades and Artemis groaned, "really?"

"Oh, lay off her: it's a good song!" Apollo defended her.

"Plus," Aphrodite felt the need to defend her, "she used to have a fabulous sense of fashion!"

"Urgh," Hades groaned once again in mental anguish as he suddenly rounded upon the pair. "First off, Apollo, she sucks – end of! Second, Aphrodite: is that all you care about? Honestly! It's always 'fashion this' and 'fashion that' – there are more important things in the world you know!"

Before she could retaliate in any form, Hephaestus decided to read on, as he sure didn't want to hear her response. _After all_, he said glumly, i_t's sure to be either shallow or vindictive – that's all she ever talks about these days!_

_And I truly thought she was starting to change and to care about something else and someone else's feelings beside herself…boy, was I wrong!_

**both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.**

"Pfft," Artemis huffed. _They sounded bad anyway! _

**We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.**

**Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.**

"Do you think he has an eye on his—" Apollo started, but was cut off by Artemis.

"Don't even think about saying that!" Artemis shuddered. Apollo looked confused.

"Before I was oh so rudely interrupted, I was going to say 'Do you think he has an eye on his toenails?'" Apollo said. "What did you think I was going to say?" he asked.

"Well," Hermes said, "for starters I thought that you were going to say-"

"Hermes!" Hera warned firmly, but was only awarded a hurtful look from the god of messengers.

"Armpits," he got out. "Geez – you ladies seriously need to get a life!"

"**This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."**

"Chiron," Persephone's eyes were wide, "did you just tell a joke?"

"You know what?" Poseidon's eyes twinkled, "I think he did!"

"Wow…" the room was filled with shocked and amazed statements as everyone began talking over each other at once, where Chiron was left in the centre, with his face getting redder and redder every minute.

"Can we please just read on now?" he muttered feebly, and surprisingly, Hephaestus did just that, as he felt a wave of pity for the centaur, as he knew from harsh experience that it wasn't one of the most positive of feelings to have a group of people talking and laughing at you in plain view.

_Just because of my looks_, he huffed angrily, _when will she ever learn to see the real me…?_

_I mean, _he went on_; it isn't as if I haven't tried! I guess there's nothing much I can do about it now, but pray and hope that she realises that she's making the biggest mistake of her life…_

**I heard footsteps behind us.**

**Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.**

Hermes meanwhile, perked up instantly with the mention of his son, but all the same, he studied the scene with wariness.

_Who knows what Luke would do now…_

"**Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."**

"Mmm," Athena mused: her orange skin began to glow darker in thought. "I wonder what he's up to?"

**Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.**

"And my love triangle is sound!" Aphrodite exploded happily, as she tried once again - whenever she herself was in any emotional pain - to ignore it and work harder to bring other couples together.

"No it is not!" Poseidon and Athena glared at her, whilst Hermes merely watched them bicker in mild interest.

_I hope she can find some way to save him,_ he prayed to whatever deity who was listening to him from above, _before he goes too far…_

"**Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought … um, maybe you could use these."**

"Use what?" Ares asked in confusion to Hephaestus, "we can't see what he's holding!"

"Oh, pipe down and have some patience!" he almost shouted at the god of war. "It explains in the next sentence you whiny little brat!"

Before Ares could tackle the forge god to the ground for his impertinence, Hephaestus swiftly read onwards.

**He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal.**

"Wait a second…" Hermes started, but was quickly interrupted.

"We don't care." Ares said moodily.

"Well, that's not very nice." Persephone scolded him.

"He can't have…" Hermes sounded shocked as he tried to envision the scene.

"He did," Apollo nodded, almost as if in a trance as his eyes appeared unfocused and dreamy: which was about the only instance that you believed instantly whatever Apollo had to say, and did whatever he told you to do without question. As after all, he wasn't known to have a connection with the Oracle for nothing…

**Luke said, "**_**Maia**_**!"**

"Maia!" Hermes repeated instantly to stop his own shoes from sprouting wings – as they each had the same activation code.

_Mmmm, maybe I should change that now,_ Hermes pondered, _as if you had two of them or more in the same room it would be quite annoying indeed!_

_Or maybe,_ Apollo's voice sounded in his head, _you should keep the activation code the same, but charm the shoes so that they only answer to the wearer's voice?_

_Good idea_, Hermes sent him a warm smile. _Thanks for the help bro!_

_Anytime dude!_

**White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them.**

A few snickers spread throughout the occupants of the room, along with a few shocked expressions.

"Goodness," Athena exclaimed as she held the scene in her mind, "I cannot believe that your son, Hermes, has just given away such a valuable item!"

"Especially since it came from his father," Persephone added smilingly, her pink teeth shining in the light, which sent a sense of dread to rise from the duo. "What a thoughtful person!"

"Yes," Hermes returned nervously, "I'd just given him the pair before I was sent these packages in fact, therefore I hope they're used well…"

**The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.**

"**Awesome!" Grover said.**

**Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days…" His expression turned sad.**

"I don't suppose dad," Persephone addressed Zeus, feeling suddenly sorry for the boy and wishing that there was anything that they could do to make things easier for him, "it would be possible for us to send him on a quest of his own so that he could go out exploring more of the world? He might feel a little less resentful then."

Zeus hesitated in answering, as he felt the weight of the god's eyes falling down upon him. "I'm not sure," he said at last, "as sorry as I feel for the boy, we cannot simply go around inventing and handing out important quest for individuals just so that they can experience the world or to make them feel better about themselves…and us."

"But," Demeter felt the need to support her precious daughter, "it doesn't have to be an important quest, or an original! Just something to keep his mind occupied and to let him know that we care for him."

After a moment or two Zeus nodded his head, whereupon Hermes released the breath that he hadn't realised that he'd been holding. "Very well, I can see no harm in this request, though we'll have to discuss the details sometime later on."

With that the group read on, feeling slightly more cheerful than before as at last they could act to change the future, though only in the tiniest ways for now…

**I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days. **

"Nah, squirt," Ares shook his head, "he's cool."

"Though a simple thank you would be sufficient," Athena added gently, though her comment went by unheard.

**But here he was giving me a magic gift… It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth.**

"Aw," Demeter, Persephone cooed.

"He's so precious, isn't he?" Aphrodite sighed dreamily. _What would I give to have men like that! So thoughtful and caring and honest and…well, perfect!_

"**Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."**

"**Listen, Percy …" Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just … kill some monsters for me, okay?"**

"Kick some monster ass, Percy!" Ares yelled, as the duo rolled their eyes in amuesment towards him.

"I'm sure you're bipolar, Ares," Apollo shook his head whilst he stared at his friend.

"Hey, I-"

"Because one minute you love Percy, the next you hate him: it's all very strange!"

"That's because-"

"Honestly, there's no need to be embarrassed about it! Do you want me to check for you?"

"But, I-"

"Because after all, I am the 'doctor' of the gods'!"

"Yes, but-"

"Or maybe I'll just have Dionysus give you a quick once over-"

"That's very thou-"

"Seeing as he's the god of madness. And let's face it: you've been showing signs of madness for a while!"

"Why, I aughta-!"

"And now you can't even talk using full sentences!"

Just as Ares was going to stand and clobber the ridiculous sun god, Hermes quickly signalled for Hephaestus to carry on with his reading.

_Though,_ Hermes thought quietly to himself, _I wonder why he was uncomfortable for…_

**We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.**

"Oh no she did not!" Athena vented angrily, shocked at her daughters infatuation towards the elder demigod _especially_ when they were heading off towards what seemed like and incredibly suicidal quest, where she'll need her brain to not only succeed in the task, but to keep herself and the other two brainless simpletons alive.

**After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."**

"What did you do to my daughter?" Athena demanded, glaring hatefully at Aphrodite as Poseidon exploded in a fit of silent giggles as he glanced briefly at the hilarious look that danced across his rival's face.

"Oh please," Aphrodite glared at her, "I've already explained that I don't magically create feelings that aren't there in the first place: I only act on something that's already there!"

"**Am not."**

"Are too," a chorus of voices whispered softly, careful not to let Athena hear of them.

"**You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"**

"Aw," Aphrodite and Persephone cooed delightfully, as Athena just huffed in distaste and folding her arms stiffly across her chest, "so cute!"

"That's young love for you," Poseidon agreed gently, as he started thinking back to the days when he was a young and restless god…

"**Oh… why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"**

"Cause you _love _him! You want to_ kiss_ him!" Apollo teased in a sing song voice. "You-"

"Apollo," Artemis rolled her eyes at her twin. "You do realise that she can't hear you, right? That you're just talking to a book?"

"…yes…"

"…"

**She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.**

**I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"**

"Not at present time, darling," Hera commented, whilst sneaking a peek at her husband. "Seeing as someone would blast you from the sky…"

Zeus started whistling innocently whilst looking around the room for likely suspects, which earned a few chuckles and even a smile from his wife.

**He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air … that would not be wise for you."**

"Unless you fancy breaking every bone in your body smashing into and becoming part of the ground," Dionysus chuckled darkly, which earned him murderous glares from everyone in the room and a smack around the head from Demeter.

"What?"

**I nodded, disappointed, **

"Ah, don't worry kid," Apollo told him, "hopefully if Hermes ever gets more days off he could let you try out his: under supervision of course," he added as he saw his father looking at him, "whilst indoors."

"Sounds like fun," Hermes agreed, "though I bet you're just suggesting this because you want a go too!"

"Yup," the sun god grinned widely at him, "sure do!"

"Well," Hermes reasoned, as a smile formed on his face, "what about in the next break I'll let you borrow my shoes if I can borrow your car."

"What, my baby?" Apollo raised an eyebrow high before nodding in agreement, "you're on!"

"Though," the sun god added as an afterthought, "I bet I'm still faster than you."

**but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"**

"What?" Hades and Athena gasped in astonishment at the boys thoughtfulness.

"Well," Artemis said as Hestia smiled in happiness, "that was nice of him."

"It sure was," Poseidon grinned proudly at his son's display of thoughtfulness and kindness towards those weaker and less fortunate than himself.

**His eyes lit up. "Me?"**

"No, the _other_ Grover." Apollo said, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Chiron added, "Grover Admos Caracticus Bobus Hutsendale of the Council of the Satyrs, whose in charge of watching over searchers in the Northern area whilst planning the annual spring ball in New York?"

The others in the room could only stare at him.

"You know," Hera finally managed to say, "I'm one of the most fairest minded and the least judgemental people that you'll ever have the fortune to meet, and even I'm confident in saying that I'm sure you just made that up!"

Cackles of laughter erupted throughout the hall.

"Good one mom!" Apollo and Hermes yelled, as Zeus lovingly entwined their hands together in unity. "Grover Admos Caracticus Bobus Hutsendale: yeah right!"

"Yeah," Artemis joined in, "it's almost even worse than Dionysus' name!"

"Hey!" Dionysus glared at her in shock.

"Aw," Demeter comforted him immediately, "don't worry about it so much: she said _almost_!"

"Hrmph!"

**Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.**

"_**Maia**_**!" he shouted.**

"_Maia_!" repeated Hermes as his shoes returned back to their normal state.

"If you desire me to," Hephaestus asked him kindly, "would you like me to adjust the shoes to only answer to their wearer after the next chapter?"

"Please," Hermes thanked him, trying not to sound too relieved, "if it's not too much trouble to you, that is."

**He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.**

Friendly laughter erupted through the room as Hermes looked smugly towards Apollo once again. "So you still feel sure that you'll win a race against me, dear brother?"

"Pfft," Apollo snorted, trying to sound braver than he felt.

"**Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!" **

"Ooh, he's going to need a lot more practice by the looks of things," Zeus smirked, "as he's a Satyr."

"And what exactly does that mean, brother?" Demeter asked him, feeling sympathetic for the poor creatures.

"Well," Zeus continued to stare at her with a confused expression plastered on his face, "he's a being of the earth, so of course he's going to have problems trying to impersonate a being of the sky!"

"**Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.**

**Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason—they all got more training."**

Poseidon groaned. The odds of his son succeeding on this quest were definitely against him

"**That's okay. I just wish—"**

**I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat.**

"Don't worry, you already do." Dionysus said, which earned him another round of harsh glares and physical abuse.

"Why do you always have to do that?" he yelled angrily at the room's occupants, "you all know I was only kidding!"

"You were?" Aphrodite tilted her head sceptically.

"Nah!"

**I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.**

"Aw, poor dear," Hera studied him silently

"More like greedy…" Dionysus scoffed, "and before any of you see it just to hit me over the head again, let me all remind you that he already has a sword specifically designed for a son of Poseidon – _as well as everlasting inc to write tons of soppy letters to his soppy little friends – _so by all accounts he should be happy with what he's got: as he's got more than most already!"

"That's true," Persephone said at last, "but a pen's not as cool as an invisible hat or some flying shoes!"

"True," Poseidon grinned at her, "so at least I know what type of thing I'm getting for him for his next birthday…"

"Whoop whoop!" Apollo cheered happily, "fishy powers away!"

"Uh –what?" Artemis asked her brother in obvious confusion, but Hephaestus – who wanted nothing more at present time than to finish the chapter- continued to read on regardless.

"**What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."**

"Without what?" Aphrodite wondered, though her question was of course ignored by the reader.

**He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. **

"Aaah," she sighed, unused and unhappy at being ignored by her husband.

"I was wondering when he was going to remember to give him that," Hades commented dryly, "as I'm sure that the trip would have been a complete disaster without it."

"It pains me to say," Poseidon sighed, "but for once, Hades, I'm in complete agreement with you."

Zeus nodded, "At least now he has a chance of success. A small chance, I might add, but a chance nonetheless."

"Thank you brother," Poseidon smiled, whereupon the both of them said "anytime" whilst glancing at the other in confusion, leaving Poseidon to shake his head in bemusement.

**It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.**

"Hey!" Poseidon and Artemis looked insulted by the statement.

"As if I'd give you such a gift," Poseidon huffed, while Artemis' eyes clouded in remembrance of the pen's history.

_Little half-blood,_ she mused_, that cursed weapon has cost a number of people much more than 30 cents! It has cost some their homes, status and everything that they once believed in!_

_The poor girl, _she sighed again_. She still hasn't completely gotten over what was done to her so long ago by men…even thinking of her dreadful past fuels my hatred for their kind like nothing else would._

_I wonder, _she pondered reluctantly,_ if this one boy here will finally make us both be able to move on with our lives once more…_

"**Gee," I said. "Thanks."**

"Ungrateful," Dionysus coughed, as Athena surprisingly moved to hit him hard on his back.

"Feeling better?" she asked kindly, where the wine god just glared at her in fury.

"**Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were the one who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."**

**I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be…?"**

**I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.**

"**The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me.**

Artemis continued to stare sadly at the floor in remembrance, as some of the other gods and goddesses sighed in remembrance.

"**It's named is Anaklusmos."**

"'**Riptide,'" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.**

"Well, you were made to read and speak Greek, not English." Athena said simply. "It might seem like a weird fact to you, but it's just something that you simply must get used to."

"**Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said,**

"Which basically means that he'll be using it daily," Hephaestus translated as he read onwards.

"**and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."**

**I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals?" How could it not?**

"**The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill.**

"Way to make the mortals feel good about themselves," Hermes applauded Chiron sarcastically, "nice work!"

Chiron meanwhile blushed scarlet until the reading once again was picked up.

**And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are **_**twice**_** as vulnerable."**

"You know," Apollo frowned, "that really sucks!"

"Yes, it does at that," Athena agreed sadly, "but sadly that's how it is: and there's nothing to be done to change this fact."

"Then," Apollo put his thinking cap on, "if we can't change the vulnerability of our children, then maybe there's some kind of defence we could create for them to help protect them better: like more effective armour, glamour spells and charms, or maybe even a tight all around body shield charms, which will act something like a diving suit that protects divers from water…can those type of things be done?"

Everyone turned to look at Hephaestus, who was gazing at the ceiling as if in deep thought. "It's possible," he started to say, "but I'd need more time reaching and experimenting on different ideas…plus, if anyone would be willing do donate any money –"

A chorus of "we will's" flooded the room.

" – for the extra material, equipment and magical energy I'll begin as soon as possible. That is, if no one minds me putting anyone's personal sculpture works on hold for a while –"

A chorus of "we won'ts " filled the room.

"-then I'll get started as soon as I can."

"And I will help you," Athena declared, "if you'd allow me of course. And Apollo? Exactly when did you get so…_smart_?"

Apollo just shrugged his shoulders in a 'who know' gesture as Hephaestus nodded once and continued reading.

"**Good to know."**

"**Now recap the pen."**

**I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a litter nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school.**

"You can't," Poseidon assured him, "it will just come back to you in its own time."

"**You can't," Chiron said.**

"Freaky," Hermes and Ares grinned as Poseidon stared at the book in mild shock, "you think like Chiron!"

"But what I'd like to know is how did Chiron know what he was thinking?" Aphrodite muttered, as everyone leaned in to hear the answer.

"**Can't what?" **

"**Lose the pen," he said.**

"Okay, Chiron I think you're hiding you mind-reading powers from us." Apollo said. Chiron rolled his eyes in return, but before he could mount a defence for himself, the god of prophecies had already designed a challenge for him to complete, whereupon he inwardly groaned in frustration.

"Now Chiron…will you please tell me what thought is going through my mind right at this moment?" Apollo said, as she crunched his face in what appeared to be harsh concentration.

However, before the centaur could open his mouth to give an appropriate answer, Artemis beat him to it.

"Nothing, My Lord, "she answered cheekily, as Apollo turned to glare at her.

"Ha ha, very funny, sis," Apollo rolled his eyes at his sister's childishness, "but this is quite an important matter, so I do appreciate it if you keep your nose out of it and keep your immature comments to a minimum. Now," he continued to stare at the centaur, "let us try once again. I command you, Chiron, trainer of Heroes to cast upon me your amazing mind-reading abilities to discover what I am thinking of!"

"I'm telling you, I can't read minds." Chiron said pleadingly, as he felt sweat run down his brow.

"Guess!" Apollo yelled, his voice filled with power.

Chiron sighed and said the first thing that popped into his head, "Food."

Apollo gasped and stared at Chiron, mouth agape. "That's right! I _was_ thinking of exactly that!"

Alright! Enough of this! Continue, please!" Chiron tried to say, though Apollo was having none of it.

"I think we just found our new Oracle everyone!" Apollo sounded rejoiced, only to be deflated by the sound of his sisters voice.

"Honestly, brother!" Athena shook her head in exasperation. "Firstly, Chiron is a male. Secondly, Chiron is a centaur. Thirdly, Chiron is needed to train our children to survive and be true heroes. Fourthly…," The list seemed to go on for hours before she finally came to a crawling stop, whereupon it seemed as if most of the room's inhabitants had fallen asleep already. "…and finally, my seventy-fifth point, and the most important one I might add! – is that Chiron is no more of a Prophet than I am, it's just that Percy and you have extremely easy faces to read!"

"Especially," Artemis finished for her, but as Hephaestus hurriedly began to read on her words were drowned out by the sound of his voice.

"**It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."**

**I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass.**

"**It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket."**

**Sure enough, the pen was there.**

"That _is_ pretty cool," Ares admitted as Poseidon smiled proudly at his son, "though not as cool as my Clarisse's spear!"

"**Okay, that's **_**extremely **_**cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"**

**Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."**

"**Mist?"**

"Urgh," the god's and goddess' groaned tiredly, not in the mood to have anymore explanations.

"Surely it's been explained to him long before now," Persephone groaned, "Surely!"

"Nope," Dionysus grinned evilly at his siblings, emphasising the 'p, as he enjoyed seeing them suffer like this.

"**Yes. Read **_**The Iliad**_**. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."**

**I put Riptide back in my pocket.**

**For the first time, the quest felt real.**

**I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.) I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.**

"But as far as swords goes, it's a good 'un!" Hermes said, hoping to relieve Poseidon of some of the tension he was bound to be feeling.

"Yeah," Apollo nodded eagerly as he noticed the sea gods bemused expression, "real good!"

"So relax, Uncle P!"

"I'm sure he'll be fine!"

"Seeing as how we've still got four books to go…"

"And it wouldn't be very sporting of the main character to die in the first one…"

"…unless there's a different main character for each of the five books…"

"Guys, guys," Poseidon glared at them, "shut up!"

"…kay…"

"**Chiron …" I said. "When you say the gods are immortal… I mean, there was a time **_**before **_**them, right?"**

"Urgh," a moody Hades slumped his head into his wife's arms, "Can we _not_ go into this, please?"

"It's not as if we have much choice, brother," Demeter answered her brother, feeling as glum as he looked. "If it's in the books we have to read it."

"But can't we just skip a few pages?" Aphrodite sighed, "this is boring and we know it all!"

Plus," Ares continued, "didn't this chapter promise us a ruined bus? Come on baby, I need some action!"

"Patience is a virtue brother," Athena sighed, as Hephaestus began reading once more.

"**Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. **

**This, the time of the Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."**

"**So what was it like … before the gods?" **

"Baaaad," the occupants of the room shivered violently, leaving Chiron to stare and frown upon them. _How would they know…_

**Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge.**

"Figure's he'd name his reign the golden age," Zeus rolled his eyes at the irony of it all.

"I wonder how bad the world was before him so that he could even think and get away with that time being called the golden age," Demeter murmured, which sent everyone back once more into deep thought.

**But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. **

"Yup," Poseidon sighed grimly.

"That's him," Hades' skin turned a paler pink.

"Lovely." Persephone stated, repulsed by the idea.

"Got it in one," Zeus nodded, before telling his son to read on.

**It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded as a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born." **

"If you ask me," Artemis commented to Hera and Hestia, "I think they warmed up a little too much for our liking," whereupon to two women nodded in unison.

"HEY!" the rest of the room's occupants cried out in embarrassed objection.

"And don't you even dare deny it!" Hera glared at them in bemusement.

Sadly, none of them dared, as Ares sadly slumped back into his seat: severely gutted that a fight hadn't just broken out to override the boredom that hanged densely throughout the room.

"**But the gods can't die now, right? **

"Well," Hades started, "it depends on how you view the situation. Do you guys see fading from the world as dying?"

"No, I suppose not," Athena answered after a moment of deliberation, "seeing as we don't go to the Underworld when we die."

"Huh?" Ares sat up straighter in his chair, "we don't?"

"No, son," Zeus stared at him in disbelief, as he couldn't believe that his son wasn't aware of this. "We don't."

"Huh," the god of war said simply, "then where do we go?"

"Somewhere else," Hades answered him vaguely, before turning his attention back to the story.

**I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. **

"Yup," Hermes nodded, "that's more or less right."

**So … even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up **_**everything**_**, right?"**

"Actually," Athena couldn't resist correcting him, "the negative outcome of your quest could set off a vicious chain of reaction that's impossible to stop, divert or slowdown, which could – and probably would – result in another 'Golden Age."

Everyone in the room turned to stare at her.

"Well," Dionysus stated, "you're just a perfect ray of sunshine, aren't you?"

"Oh," Demeter intervened, "that's rich coming from you!"

"If you really want to know why I act-"

"People," Hera raised her voice loud enough to stop everyone in their tracks. "As amusing as it is to listen to your numerous verbal disagreements, I'd like to finish this chapter before noon, and for that to happen we really need to move on!"

**Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. **_**They**_** still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."**

"**Our destiny … assuming we know what that is."**

"**Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."**

"Ah," Poseidon glared at the centaur, "that's the perfect way to get him to relax isn't it?"

"Yeah," Apollo growled at him, "Pile on some more pressure why don't you!"

"I'm sorry," Chiron apologised once again. "that wasn't my attention. I'm sure I merely wished for him to take things seriously and to be careful."

"I know, Chiron," Hestia glared at her siblings in anger, "And they know it too: it's just that they're too proud to admit that they've 'screwed up' too, as Apollo so nicely puts it. So instead of being harder on themselves for their mistakes, I'm sure that they find it much easier to blame and take it harder out on you."

"Nevertheless," he answered her sincerely, "as soon as the books are over I assure you that I'll seek the help that was offered to me by Aphrodite: in the hope that I can change my ways for the better in order to help secure and protect more future demigods and goddesses."

"**Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."**

"Yup, you definitely sound like it," Ares mused as Hermes sorted in response.

"He's more relaxed than I would have been in that situation," Hermes confessed as Apollo nodded silently in agreement. "I would have been running for the hills!"

"Or at least the ocean," Aphrodite nodded, "where I knew that Zeus couldn't get me from there."

"Ah," Demeter retaliated calculatingly, "for one, he and Hades could send numerous monsters and, er, characters down after him…"

"But then those 'character's` as you put it," Dionysus smirked darkly, "would have had to go up against the wrath of Poseidon – who would have been doubly angry with the fact that your minions were sent after his son and trespassing into his territory…so he brat would have been still safe, protected in daddy's arms."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Hera frowned, "the boy would still have to face Poseidon's – as well as all the water beings in his kingdom – harsh disappointment when he found out instead of going off on a grand and glorious quest to save the world, himself and his mother, the boy instead ran to hide behind his father as a selfish and cowardly child. So with this image probably in his mind, I'm sure he'd agree as well that being killed at the hands of monsters would have been a much better fate: as at least everyone that he loved and respected would have been proud of him."

"Plus," Artemis stated, "he'd have to deal with his stepmother and brother's reaction to him once they found out that dear Poseidon not only broke the oath but endangered all that they knew in the process – so I'm going to have to agree with you, Hera, that facing a vast number of deadly monsters would have been – or will be, seeing that it happens in the future – his best choice."

"Though," Persephone felt the need to add, "If he'd agreed to be turned into a dolphin in the first place he'd both be safe from the danger of being killed by Zeus or Hades, and being disliked or disowned by his father."

Meanwhile Zeus, Poseidon and Hades could only watch with bemused expressions on their faces as they imagined the various scenes that were being described. After a while however, they ceased the discussion and allowed Hephaestus to read along once more.

**When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, **

"Why does he _always_ have to remind me of her?" Zeus glowered angrily as Hera gazed sadly at her husband. "Does he enjoy constantly pushing my buttons?"

"No, brother," Poseidon informed him gently, sending him a quick wink, "that's my job!"

**Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.**

"It's a sign of respect," Chiron explained to the others. "A sign of honour: in case we shall never meet again in this lifetime."

The others gazed at the centaur thoughtfully.

"You know," Ares was the first to break the silence," that's pretty cool."

"Thank you," Chiron nodded curtly, as Hephaestus began reading once again.

**Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy.**

**I found myself staring at every McDonald's,**

"Understandable," Apollo nodded in longing, "you can never go wrong there."

"Mmm," Hermes disagreed, "you know, I've always preferred burger king."

"Yes, well," Apollo retaliated, "we both know that you've never had much sense."

"Hey!"

"Food wise," Apollo comprised, seeing that his younger brother was reluctant to let go of the argument.

**every kid in the back of his parent's car, every billboard and shopping mall.**

"Then I guess you know where all the good sales are in the future then," Aphrodite grinned as she once again adjusted her makeup to try to make her grey painted face stand out in a better light.

"Urgh," Athena turned up her nose in disgust, "you are so shallow! You are such a…a…snob!"

"Well, you're a slob!" she defended herself. "And at least I try to have fun and pamper myself from time to time! You wouldn't know how to even if it came along and bit you on the nose! I mean," the love goddess continued, almost in tears, "it's no wonder you're still a virgin!"

Before the wisdom goddess had a chance to do something unwise, Demeter and Artemis swiftly held her back, as Hephaestus hurriedly began to read on: his voice sounding darker and harsher than it had in a while.

"**So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."**

Poseidon, Hades and Zeus groaned as they slapped their hands violently against their foreheads, "Way to jinx it!"

"So," Hermes said glumly, "what kind of monster do you think will come for them this time?"

"I'm not sure," Zeus said hesitantly, "something mean at any rate."

"Great," Poseidon shook his head, "just great!"

"Just relax," Hades advised him, "if something happens to them it's not the end of the world –"

"I thought that was exactly what it was," Zeus interrupted in confusion, "if something happened to them to stop them completing the quest."

" – what I meant," Hades said moodily, as he hated to be interrupted, "that even though one of them might die in this book, there's still a chance in our world to still change things and prevent this from happening."

"That's resting on if we can change the rules or not," Poseidon said in frustration. "So for all we know right now, we could be watching our children's death's beforehand knowing that nothing can be done to change or divert their fates."

"Well," Dionysus tried to comfort his poor, depressed uncle, "if he falls in battle, you could always change him into a cute little sea creature to preserve his life as father did. What about a pretty little seahorse?"

"Not helping, son," Zeus glared daggers upon him, before returning to Poseidon. "Look," he said finally, "it's not like I don't _want_ to change the rules – because if you must know what I want more than anything is to see Thalia grow up in front of me! You also have to know that changing the rules is next to impossible: that's it's a long and hard procedure, where, if one tiny detail isn't perfect, it will not work.

"So," the king of gods continued, "when I say we will discuss these issues after the books have been read – I mean it! So for now, let us read on."

**She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, Seaweed Brain."**

"We just said that," Ares sighed as Athena began scowling at him.

"**Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?"**

"**I don't hate you."**

"Could've fooled me," Apollo grinned at Poseidon suggestively.

"**Could've fooled me."**

"See," his grin widened causing the sea god to send him a bemused smile, "he agrees with me!"

**She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look … we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."**

"But that doesn't mean that you two have to follow their example," Hestia shook her head. "You should live your own life –not theirs."

"**Why?"**

**She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is **_**hugely**_** disrespectful.**

Athena glared at Poseidon, who just shrugged.

"It happened a long time ago," he said simply, "I've apologised, so you need to stop being like Hades for a minute and let go of your grudge against me."

Athena meanwhile continued to stare at him in disbelief.

**Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift.**

Poseidon huffed childishly, "It wasn't stupid."

"You hypocrite," Athena rolled her eyes in amusement at the elder gods actions, which earned her a playful wink in return.

**My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."**

Athena smiled proudly at her daughter's words, as Poseidon scowled at her mockingly.

"**They must really like olives." **

Poseidon suddenly burst out laughing at the statement, where the others weren't far behind: leaving Athena to be the one who was now scowling at the book.

"**Oh, forget it." **

"**Now, if she'd invented pizza—**_**that**_** I could understand."**

Poseidon laughed harder as Athena stared at him feeling thoroughly exasperated.

"You're even more childish than your son," she scoffed at last, "and that's saying something!"

"Aw," he continued to wind her up, "you love me really!"

"Urgh!"

"**I said, forget it!" **

"Wish I could, "she muttered darkly under her breath as she silently cursed her long time nemesis.

_One of these days I'll pay him back for all the teasing that he's ever put me through,_ she vowed vengefully. _One day…!_

**In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.** **Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?**

"Uh-oh," Persephone sang worriedly.

"This doesn't sound good," Hermes agreed with his sister as he saw Poseidon's hands twitching so harshly that it looked like his uncle would like nothing better than to strangle Gabe Uglyousness…or whatever the horrid man was called.

**I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.**

"With her suffering from ADHD too," Hera reasoned, "and being Athena's child, she probably noticed before him."

Athena nodded at once, as there was no way a son of Poseidon would be more alert than her daughter!

**Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.**

**I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.**

"He's probably already asked to receive any life insurance she had too, the poor woman," Demeter sighed sadly.

"At least he doesn't have a slave to cook for him anymore," Artemis smiled, "or someone to go to work to get him money for his stupid bets."

"Which I have a feeling," Apollo smirked glancing at Hermes, "that he'll do nothing but lose from now on, don't you brother?"

"Brother," Hermes smiled brilliantly at him, "I was thinking exactly the same thing."

**Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"**

**I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or some thing?" **

"No, no," Hera smiled at his innocence, "just your emotions, dear."

"**Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. **

"How very convenient of you," Dionysus murmured, as everyone else rolled their eyes at the typical god of wine statement.

"What?"

**You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?" **

**I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me. **

"Probably a l-" Dionysus started again, but was silenced quickly by Artemis.

"Don't be so mean!" she told him, whilst stroking an arrow so tenderly that it could have only been a warning.

"Fine," he huffed in defeat, "you're all no fun!"

"**Your mom married Gabe for **_**you**_**," Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura…. Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week. **

"I was right." Athena smirked, having her theories confirmed always made her feel good about herself.

"**Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?" **

The gods and goddesses chuckled.

"**You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human **

"Hey!" Hermes frowned, "that's an insult to the whole human population!"

**he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago.**

"That's must be the only benefit to marrying a whale such as him," Hera said, shaking her head in disgust.

"Does that mean you'll allow her a safe divorce from him?" Artemis boldly asked her stepmother, "with no hard feelings towards her?"

"Please," Hera scoffed loudly, "I'm the god of marriage and unity!"

"Hera," Zeus tried to reason with her but it was no use.

"Don't Hera me, honey – not at the moment anyway!" she looked across to him quickly, before turning to meet the rest of her family's. "As I was saying, I am the goddess of Marriage and Unity: and I say that the only suffering and 'hard feelings' as you put it will come on to the groom tenfold in whatever the situation and to the bride if she _doesn't _divorce him before all this occurs!"

Everyone in the throne room could only stare in shock at the Queen's words.

"You've certainly changed, honey," Zeus whispered to her at last, "since we've started reading these books."

Hera turned her attention back towards him, and as she leaning towards him to once again entwine his hand in hers, she whispered back, "as have you."

**Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady.** **She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."**

"knowing Percy and his loyalty issues," Apollo started, "I'm sure that he actually feels worse."

The others grimaced sadly in silent agreement as Hephaestus carried on reading the scene.

**It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it.**

"Poor Dear," Demeter sighed.

**I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone. **

**I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazy quest.**

**The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, **

Zeus glared angrily at that, whilst muttering something under his breath about the 'accursed son's of Poseidon,' whilst Dionysus rolled his eyes at the boys thoughts.

**or saving the world, **

_Typical demigod behaviour,_ he sneered inwardly. _Not caring about anyone but themselves and what they themselves deem worthy to care about…_

**or even helping my father out of trouble.**

"I'm sorry, Percy," Poseidon sighed in defeat, as he was constantly being reminded of his son's negative opinion of him. "I'm trying, I really am!"

_But it's just not good enough,_ the Greek god sighed. _Not unless I can get that stupid rule changed…_

**The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, **

_I did,_ he whispered, thinking of all the precious moments he'd seen with his own eyes where he secretly snuck away from the sea to be around his son and to see him grow. _You just weren't…aren't…. aware of it…_

**never helping my mom,**

…_she was too proud to accept any help from me_, he sighed…

**never even sending a lousy child-support check. **

…._she was much too used to being independent to accept any form of support that I could give her: which always depressed me, but I listened to her nonetheless…_

**He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done. **

…_but I love you..._

…_I love you more than you would ever hope to guess._

**All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back. **

"I will," Hades assured the young demigod, as well as the occupants of the room. "Or I _should_ at least."

_**You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, **_**the Oracle whispered in my mind. **_**You will fail to save what matters most in the end. **_

_**Shut up,**_** I told it. **

"That's not very nice." Apollo huffed at the insult, "after all, it's only trying to help you."

"But can't you find a way to make it less cryptic?" Artemis asked him, who merely shrugged in response.

"I like cryptic," he said simply, "it's so…not me, it's me!"

"But that's-" Athena started, but was cut off instantly.

"Cryptic? I know…see – I told you!"

No one knew what to say to that, as they all allowed Hephaestus to read on without a comment.

**The rain kept coming down.**

**We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. **

**I wasn't too bad myself.**

**The game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared—core, stem, and all.**

"Satyrs," Dionysus shook his head, "they either ruin all your fun, or provide you with all the fun that you need…once you're done tormenting them that is."

"Dionysus," Zeus warned him."

"Geez, dad, I'm kidding!"

**Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.**

**Finally, the bus came. **

"Yes!" Ares yelled in happiness and excitement as he jumped out of his seat and surprised everyone gathered. "Now the fun begins!"

**As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favourite school cafeteria delicacy—enchiladas.**

"Enchiladas are horrible," Demeter groaned. "I do not understand the people who chose to eat those disgusting things when they've got some nice cereal waiting for them when they get home!"

"_WHAT?_" Apollo and Hermes yelled at her in astonishment.

"Enchiladas happen to be one of the best human meals that have ever been invented! Right after ice cream and cookie dough of course!" Apollo exclaimed loudly.

"And microwave popcorn!" Hermes added hastily as he glared at Demeter, "don't forget microwave popcorn!"

"How could I ever," Apollo scoffed as his gaze settled once more on his aunt. "You've been eating too many cereal bars, auntie. Can't you see they've rotted your brain?"

"Oh," Athena retaliated, "I can certainly see how all that junk food has indeed rotted your brains brothers!"

"But I agree with her," Aphrodite said quietly from her throne.

"Agree with her over what?" Athena snapped at Aphrodite, as her hateful comments from earlier were still fresh in her mind.

"Enchiladas of course!" she gagged, "as after all, they're too messy and are typical to soil your clothes."

Before Athena could even think of running her through with a sword, Hephaestus hastily read onwards.

"**What is it?" I asked. **

"**I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."**

"It's never nothing, boy!" Ares barked at the book. "If you keep ignoring your instincts, you'll constantly be surrounded in piping hot water and in a grave six feet under before you can even blink."

**But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too. **

"Now that's more like it," Ares nodded as his mind began focusing on the upcoming fight, "though you should have been a lot quicker than that: it just might save your life someday."

**I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. **

Ares frowned at the location mentioned. "That's not a suitable location! What if something rams into you from behind?"

"Yes," Athena agreed with him for once, "it would prove much safer if the tree of you moved to sit at the front of the bus close to the driver and the main exit should you have need of it."

"Or maybe," Persephone rolled her eyes at the pair of them, "these were the only seats that were available?"

Athena and Ares became surprisingly much quieter after that.

**We stowed our back packs. **

"Children, no!" Hermes warned them, "_Never_ put your backpacks somewhere out of reach! What if someone takes something from them and plants something dangerous inside them in return?"

"Plus," Hades added, "if you're going to be attacked, you might not have time to retrieve them."

**Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh. As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee.**

"**Percy." **

"Oh no," Poseidon groaned, "what has she seen?"

"We're about to find out," Hades said solemnly.

**An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.**

**It was Mrs. Dodds, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.**

Poseidon groaned. _How the hell did she manage to return to this world so quickly? Still_, he relaxed reluctantly, _he's managed to defeat Alecto once before. Plus, it should be easier this time, seeing that he has had more training and a more experienced helper._

_He'll be fine…_

**I scrunched down in my seat.**

"Good tactic," Ares nodded, "when in doubt, blend into the background and wait for the right moment to attack."

**Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds—same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.**

"All three furies!" the room gasped as they shot glares at Hades – whilst Hades shot glares at the book.

_He'd better be alright…_

**They sat in the front row, right behind the driver.**

"Okay," Persephone sighed glumly, "so there were spare seats up there after all."

Athena and Ares however were in their own little world as they both attempted to figure out various strategies that would help their children prevail in this confrontation.

"Well," a nervous Demeter commented on the scene, "they certainly do know their strategies, don't they?"

"They learned from the best," Hades answered proudly as his wife wacked him around the head in warning, with the clear instruction to 'behave' when he was talking to her mother.

"How could they have?" Athena growled back at her uncle, "when I have yet to teach them anything?"

**The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves. **

**The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime." **

"**I said if you're **_**lucky**_**," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not." **

_The boy's a clear danger magnet_, Zeus sighed at the situation, _just like my Thalia…_

"**All three of them," Grover whimpered. "**_**Di immortales!**_**"**

"You said it," Apollo and Hermes said in unison, which caused both of them to chuckle quietly at their own likeness.

_All the same_, Hermes prayed, _he'd better be okay…_

"**It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."**

"Slip out the windows of a moving bus…yeah, …like that won't arouse suspicion." Ares said. "Not the best plan for a daughter of Athena."

"Shut up, Ares," Athena glared at him hatefully, knowing that he was right, "you're disrupting my thinking."

"**They don't open," Grover moaned.**

"**A back exit?" she suggested.**

**There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.**

_Come on brain, Athena_ coaxed as she massaged her temples gently in a circular rhythm, _think, think, think! It's not that hard! Think of something that doesn't either sound too absurd or something that Ares would most likely think of_…

"**They won't attack us with witnesses around," I said. "Will they?" **

"Don't get your hopes up, punk," Ares sighed, "not with the mist and all."

"**Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist." **

"**They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?" **

"Or most probably," Dionysus ventured, "they'd see three kind ladies come up to you and greet you like long lost nephews and nieces, where they'll come and smother you with hugs and kisses-"

"Which will in reality be," Hephaestus finished emotionlessly, "them raking you open with their talons and cutting you open with your teeth."

"So don't rely on the mist," Athena advised him.

"Yeah," Ares growled, "you should act instead of react, before it's too late to do either."

**She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof…?" **

**We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain. **

**Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room." **

"**So do I," said the second sister.**

"**So do I," said the third sister. **

"Oh, please!" Artemis scoffed, as everyone leaned even more forward in dread.

**They all started coming down the aisle. **

"**I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat." **

"**What?" **

"Yes," Athena mused, not knowing whether to feel relieved, angry of fearful for the group, "that would certainly work for him: but then you are leaving yourself open to attack!"

The others watched on nervously, hoping that all monster attacks won't be as bad as this one…

_Geez_, Dionysus rolled his eyes at his relatives behaviour and chuckled inwardly. _If they're like this now, I wonder how they'll be when the brats are actually in the Underworld…_

"**You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."**

"**But you guys—"**

"**There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering." **

"**I can't just leave you."**

"Aw, what a lovely young man," Hera smiled as she pictured him. "So loyal and brave…" _He'd definitely make a fine husband to someone one day!_

"That's his tragic flaw," Athena informed them, "personal loyalty: the most dangerous of them all."

"**Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"**

Poseidon remained seated, not sure on whether he should be screaming at his son to take what could be his only chance to safety, or to stay and be loyal to his friends.

_Listen to your heart son,_ he whispered to him at last, _it won't lead you wrong…_

**My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on.**

"What!" Athena glared at the action, suddenly feeling even more scared for her daughter now than before: as she knew now that she'd have to fight them alone.

"How could he?" she raged, "How could he even think to abandon them after what they were willing to risk for him?"

"Calm down, Athena," Apollo tried soothing her, "Percy's too loyal to leave them to fend for themselves: I'm sure that they'll think of something soon."

"Yeah, sis," Hermes nodded, "especially as we know his fatal flaw's personal loyalty."

"So just have a little faith in him," Apollo finished, "I'm sure he'll come around."

_He'd better,_ she thought darkly, _or else…_

**When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore. **

**I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past.**

**Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing and looked straight at me. My heart was pounding.**

**Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.**

**I was free.**

Poseidon let out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding. He was glad that his son had made it safely, but now he was worried about the girl and the satyr. He knew that his son wouldn't just leave them, though he was terrified of the possible actions he just knew his son would think of doing in order to save the people that he cared about.

Poseidon groaned again at this latest thought.

**I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row. **

"Oh no," Persephone cried, hoping that no one had been hurt already.

Hades made a move to wrap his arms around her smaller delicate frame. As she gladly embraced the comfort that he was offering her, he made a reminder to have a little talk with these ladies when he got home…even if his future self ordered it in the first place!

**The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—I guess those couldn't get any uglier—**

Everyone laughed as some of the tension was relieved.

"At any rate," Aphrodite smiled, "truer words have _never _been spoken."

**but their bodies had shrivelled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.**

**The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? **

"Where?" Athena and Hades exclaimed in surprise and confusion. This quest was getting stranger and stranger by the minute!

**Where?"**

"What?" chorused the room.

"It? I thought they were after Percy…?" Poseidon said, confused.

"Oh, she is," Athena assured him, "but not for the simple reason that we thought."

"What are you thinking, brother?" Zeus stared at Hades intensely, "I know when you've got something on your mind: spill it."

"I was wondering," Hades said reluctantly, "if I'm also looking for the bolt: though I'm not to what purpose I'd want it for – as I'd definitely not wish it for myself!"

"You'd better not want it for yourself," Zeus warned him darkly, "especially seeing as I was just starting to like you!"

"But," Hermes commented, "and no offense uncle H, but I honestly can't see yourself going into all this trouble to help your brother out, especially seeing as how you punished him for breaking the oath."

"I agree with you," Athena nodded, "it is a peculiar situation, but can we put this discussion on hold for a little while? At least until we find out if our children will survive to see the next chapter!"

A chorus of 'very wells' echoed the room, as everyone once again turned their attention towards the books and Hephaestus' reading.

**The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw **_**something**_**, all right.**

"Thugs with guns, maybe?" Ares suggested.

"Probably," Dionysus nodded.

"**He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"**

**The Furies raised their whips.**

**Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it. **

"Oh, really?" Zeus asked in disbelief as he felt his hatred for the satyr rise once more. "Like that's seriously going to do much damage!"

"Darling, please," Hera coaxed him gently, "can't you see he's trying?"

"Hrmph!"

**What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.**

"Oh boy," Apollo said nervously. "This doesn't sound good."

Ares meanwhile was cheering, `Oh, yeah! Show them what you got, Percy: whoop whoop!' as all of his battle plans lay forgotten in the top right corner of his mind.

**The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rear-view mirror. **

**Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.**

"Seriously?" Athena screeched, as the goddesses gasped in shock and horror, "that was not a good idea, Percy!"

Meanwhile the gods were looking slightly more relieved by the young heroes actions.

"That was brilliant!" Hermes grinned, "the best!"

"You know," Apollo grinned innocently back at him, "I know this isn't the best of times to make the comparison, but doesn't this remind you of Ares' driving?"

As the two of them collapsed into fits of giggles, the gods around them couldn't help but ask the question.

"And what exactly is wrong with Ares' driving?" Poseidon raised his eyebrows high.

"Well," Hermes yawned, "haven't you seen his cars?"

"No," the others all asked confused, wondering what the point of this actually was.

"Exactly," Apollo smiled, "they don't exist anymore! They've all been smashed to pieces because of all the crashes that he's had!"

The others in the room groaned at this, as they immediately regretted asking this question.

"**Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey—whoa!"**

**We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us. **

**We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.**

**Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river. **

**Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.**

**The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.**

"That…was…awesome!" Ares yelled. Poseidon and Athena glared at him. This was probably one of the most dramatic and antagonizing moments of their existence.

_How could he think that this was awesome?_

**The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.**

Athena scoffed at the Satyr's pathetic attempts to fight off the enemy.

_At least his heart's in the right place though_, a voice called out at her, which made her feel slightly guilty. It was not the satyr's fault that he wasn't built for fighting…

**I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends. I took off the invisible cap. "Hey!"**

"Oh, great!" Poseidon almost kicked himself, "now what?"

"I don't think you want to know," Hephaestus said glumly, as he continued to read onwards, which automatically sent the others into panic once more.

**The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent . Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F- math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.** **Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.**

"**Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."**

_Ah_, Hades thought, _so in the future I think that's he's offended me in some way: so it can't only be the fact that he's Poseidon's spawn or is believed to be the lightning thief that I'm so angry at him for…it has to be something else…but what? I haven't even met him yet – even in that world!_

"**I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her.**

The Olympians all chuckled softly at this.

"Really?" Apollo asked in horror, "personally I'd rather it the other way around."

"Same with me, bro," Ares shuddered in disgust.

"Maths," Hermes gagged," – and the whole idea of school, in fact – it horrible!"

Meanwhile Athena and the rest of the room could only stare at them.

_Boys!_

**She growled.**

**Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.** **I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword. The Furies hesitated.**

**Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.**

"Especially," Demeter said fiercely as the others silently agreed with her, "as he's about to use it on you in exactly the same way."

"**Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment." **

"**Nice try," I told her.**

"**Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.**

**Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me.** **My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide. I stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands.**

"**Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"**

"Well, duh!" Dionysus rolled his eyes, as he was brought out of the horrifying stupor that the others had been in whilst watching the fighting scene. "It's radiating fire, you idiot! What did you expect?"

Fortunately, the others in the room were too absorbed with the fighting scene to pay him any attention.

_Later,_ Demeter vowed fiercely, _later…_

**The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata. **

Silent cheers erupted from the room as it soon looked like all would be well.

"Two more to go now," Poseidon took in the fact. "You'll be alright."

**Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip. **

"Yes," Athena cheered, as, for once, she was lost in the moment, "you can do it, daughter!"

**Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept on falling down.**

"**Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"**

Poseidon glared at his brothers, as once again he was reminded of the horrid situation that his son was in.

"This hasn't happened yet, so we can't be blamed!" Zeus defended. Hades nodded vigorously.

"I know," Poseidon said softly, "though that doesn't make it any easier."

"_**Braccas meas vescimini**_**!" I yelled.**

**I wasn't sure where the Latin came from.**

"Latin?" Artemis raised her head. "That is strange…"

"It's probably from all those Latin classes you used to give him in that school," Hestia spoke up from tending the fire, "it's probably seeped into his brain self consciously."

_Huh,_ Persephone frowned, _what a strange phrase for him to remember…_

**I think it meant "Eat my pants!"**

"Yup," Apollo and Hermes laughed, "it does!"

**Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck. **

"**Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!" I didn't need any encouragement. **

Poseidon glared at the book in near hatred, as Zeus and Hades put their heads in their hands.

_He's never going to let this go, is he?_ Hades sighed to his younger brother.

_We should probably get used to it,_ Zeus agreed_, then they could slowly work to change it. _

**We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword.**

"Well, that's not good." Hera said as the others rolled their eyes at the understatement of the century.

"**Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left out—"**

_**BOOOOOM!**_

**The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.**

"**Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"**

**We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.**

Hephaestus gently closed the book and met all the other gobsmacked faces that were in the room.

"That's the end of the chapter," he said quietly, waiting for someone to take charge.

"Right," Hera said after a moment, "that was certainly a tense chapter!"

She took her time to glance at Apollo and Hermes, "Right boys," she commanded, "let's hear your explanations on the painting charm then before we read the next chapter."

_**A.N And that's the chapter for this week – I know it's been a long while but hopefully you've enjoyed it. Thanks for all the reviews, and I'll see you soon!)**_

_**T.T.F.N.**_


	15. Strengths and Weaknesses

_**(A.N. To start with I'd like to thank everyone who's taken the time to review or PM me – it's always nice to know what everyone is thinking, or in what way they think the story is going to go. Normally, I always write my mini story that I have at the beginning with the reading of the chapter, but since I have a feeling that this mini story will be a little longer than average – due to all the explanations needed for the gods – so I think I'll make an exception to this and give this piece of the chapter to you a little early so that you'll have something to read whilst I carry on with the chapter. (Though first I have to write this part )**_

_**Anyway, thanks to everyone who's stuck by me throughout this story, and remember if you have a question for me – it can be anything – or if you want to tell or suggest how you think this story is or should go, let me know.)**_

**Chapter 15 – Strengths and Weaknesses **

As Hera swiftly returned to the throne, Apollo and Hermes got to their feet and marched proudly to stand in the centre of the room in front of the room's occupants.

They noticed happily as they glanced at the various faces that met their gaze that the paint charm they had created was still in strong effect, where the various colours hadn't wavered, dimmed or paled since the latest reading session.

"Right then boys," their father addressed them in amusement, as his slightly raised eyebrows were lost in a vivid green stripe, "you may begin your explanations before we continue with our reading."

"Well," Hermes started immediately, "first things first: the colours that you all are wearing hold different meanings – as we explained an hour or so ago. Though, we're not quite sure yet whether the colours that appear on you shows your mood, personality, loyalty and/or your weakness."

"Weakness?" Athena frowned, "I do not recall you mentioning this before."

"Ah," Apollo quickly explained, "what we mean by weakness is, that it can also show you what you lack in your personality and/or what you dislike about yourself and/or what kind of personality that you want to have in the future."

"It's been much easier testing this product on man –or god- made things and mortals, as they tend not to change their minds and ways of life much. With beings such as us it's much harder as we're able to hold and feel much more emotions at different times –not just simply one, so we needed to do something like this," Hermes explained patiently, "to test the product."

"Also to remind you guys of earlier," Apollo added, "the charm is only temporary, as we immortals can be quick to change our emotions and moods. For example, if we did this charm on you guys again at the end of the book, I'm willing to bet anything you want that the colours will be different than the ones you have now."

"Yes, okay," Aphrodite sighed, "we understand all that! When does the charm fade? As I really can't stand being gray for much longer!"

"Actually," Hermes grinned sheepishly, "the person who activates the charm can choose to break it whenever he or she wants…but if they choose to wait, it'll take two weeks maximum for the charm to fade."

"What?" a red Demeter scowled at the pair. "Are you actually threatening to leave looking like a tomato goddess for two weeks?"

"Nah, auntie," Apollo shook his head, "we know better than to push our luck like that."

"Then, whe-"

"We were actually planning to undo everyone's charm as soon as they've been read by the two of us," Apollo reassured them. "So, who wants to go first?"

Everyone's hands shot up in the air.

"Okay," Hermes grinned, "let's sort this out with the classic pick the flaming name out of the war helmet."

Quickly he conjured his own helmet with 12 pieces of paper that had everyone's name on them. Silently he put each name in one by one, then set the helmet on fire.

"Now then," Apollo smirked, "who wants to pull out the first name?"

Not one hand went up.

"Right then," he continued, "then I guess the name pulling will have to go -once again – to our own auntie Hestia!"

At that Hestia took the helmet from Hermes and stared into the flames with a bemused expression. "The lengths you all go to stop anyone from cheating…" she murmured as she picked out the first piece of paper, which seemed untouched by the flames.

Silently she passed it on to Chiron, who carefully unfolded it and read, "Athena."

"Alright," she smiled in earnest, "what is the meaning of my colour?"

"Well," Hermes began, "firstly when I look at you I see that the majority of your skin is covered in orange, where in some places you also have swirls of white: so to begin with I'm just going to read the general meaning of the colours before giving you your own personal reading."

"Let's begin with the orange, shall we?" Apollo suggested before turning to his notes that he'd pulled out of his pocket whilst Hermes was talking to Demeter. "**While red is associated with fiery heat, orange is associated with the benign warmth of the sun, **so I'm guessing the charm read that your nature is more calm, collected and thoughtful instead of rash and hot-headed.** A dynamic colour to be sure, orange offers a more thoughtful control than explosive red -**which again I'm sure refers to your whole "goddess of wisdom" side – where you always think about every single thing before you do it. **Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things- **which is also a characteristic you have Athena, seeing as you're always either off inventing or learning something new, or trying to help another person do the same thing."

"Maybe," Hermes added, "the last part could hold your weakness too."

"In what way?" Athena asked, as her face filled with mild confusion. "I could understand if you were referring to me being overly curious perhaps, but you both know I am not – that I have perfect control over myself and my actions, therefore I'm confident that my own curiosity cannot destroy me."

"Well," Hermes carried on nervously, "I was actually thinking of the 'exploration of trying new things part,'" he confessed.

"How?" Athena's face now looked confounded.

"It's just that, you're always saying that you're always open to trying new things out – like new ways of using an object or something, but you're quite a hypocrite actually when you say that you're always open to try new ways of seeing things – like someone else's version of the world…no, no, let me finish Athena! …Anyway," he continued, "Have you ever thought that the way you think is a weakness… that thinking too much in general can be a weakness – because it can be you know, as that means you can never relax and just have fun and live in the moment. It means that you can never understand people like Apollo's point of view, so that can lead to misunderstanding and conflict…do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"I think I do," Persephone guessed, as she turned to Athena. "I think the colour's telling you that even though thinking and planning things through is a good thing, too much of it can be bad for you: as it can blind you to some people's point of views. Plus, it's stopping you from totally living your life to the full and enjoying it, so that's something that you might think about needing to change."

"Basically," Hermes confirmed happily. "Plus, **you should put some orange in your life when you want to either spice things up when you feel time is dragging – **which confirms what I was trying to say-** to become more involved in something – **which you always want to do anyway – it's just encouraging you to be involved in something a little more different than what you would normally want to get involved with, - **to increase creativity – **so for future reference I think it's telling you to hang out more with Apollo and the rest of us to get different creative ideas about various things -** and for relief from things becoming too serious – **which you desperately need. Hrm,**" **Hermes concluded, "no wonder the orange colour was so dominant in you, as it definitely suits your character at this point in time."

"White meanwhile," Apollo recited from the paper he shared with Hermes, "**is the colour of purity –** so it's no wonder that you got flecks of white, seeing as you're a virgin -** Brides wear white in many countries, because white symbolizes a virgin –**yup! Confirms my point…** White means kindness – **so underneath all that cool and icy façade, you're actually a pretty nice person …good to know!" Apollo winked playfully at his sister who merely rolled her eyes.** "In some cultures white is worn at funerals, -**urgh, well that could be quite depressing I guess - ** where white daisies are a symbol of loyal love –**so you'll stay true to the people that you love until the end of all things.

"**Strictly speaking, white is not a colour, but the manifestation of the presence of all colour - the complete energy of light. It stands for wholeness and completion. In many cultures it represents openness and truth- **which is true about you, seeing as you always say what you feel is the truth -** White has a cold quality**- so you should watch out for that, as you do sometimes appear to be cold and mean -**It can provide clarity as its energy is complete. **

"**White has purification vibrations and can be used to clear blocks from your path – **for you Athena, this could refer to your "wisdom" role once again, as your calm and calculated personality can help you make the best decision that you're able to make…** It holds the potential to move toward every other colour – **could be a metaphor of you having the potential to not only know what others points of view are, but to understand and respect them and bring them together, so that's a strength…the spell has certainly worked in quite a detailed manner with you, sis! -** and this makes it a good choice for new beginnings, and development in any direction- **which basically sums up what I've just said."

"Maybe you should wait until you finish a sentence and then give your interpretation on the meaning," Hera suggested to the two boys, who simply shrugged in response.

"Maybe," Hermes agreed, "but it's more fun to do it like this, as it feels more natural to us."

"Plus," Apollo grinned, "I like hearing that my interpretation is right." He turned back to Athena and recited the final paragraph, "**You should put some white in your life when you want:****to clear clutter and obstacles away- **which could be emotional or mental problems or physical problems like monsters and other horrible and nasty stuff -**to start a fresh beginning** - yup, we've covered that - **to bring about mental clarity** – covered that too - ** and ****purification of thoughts or actions – **which could either refer to your virgin side or your wisdom side. Either way – the charm has worked appropriately to give us a general of what kind of person you are."

"Interesting," Athena finally replied after a moment or two of silence, before retreating back into her mind to assess and decipher the description further.

The other gods and goddesses in the room however nodded their approval of the charm, as they'd just had proof of how accurate its reading was, and couldn't wait to see what else the charm would reveal.

"Okay, Hestia," Hermes smiled at her, "you can pick out the next name."

"Hang on," Athena frowned as her mind returned to the present, "what about my appearance?"

"Ah, yeah," the messenger god grinned sheepishly before he waved his hands quickly to disable the charm. "I knew there was something I forgot…_now _you can pick another name, auntie."

As she handed the name to Chiron, the centaur called, "Hades."

"Finally," the Lord of the Dead grumbled. "Now you can finally explain to me why I'm pink."

"Well, Uncle," Apollo started, "seeing as I can only see the colour pink on you so far –unless you'd be willing to quickly take off your clothes so that I can see-"

"No, you may not!" the moody god huffed as though insulted.

"Fine," Apollo sighed, "then your reading will be one of the shortest, as the charm more than likely as only focused on one general aspect of your personality, mood, loyalty or weakness."

"Okay," Hermes recited, "**pink is a combination of red and white-"**

"Obviously," Hades interrupted as he rolled his eyes, though the duo ignored him.

" –**is a combination of red and white**," Hermes recited forcefully, "**where the equality of energy in pink is determined by how much red is present. **Therefore, the characteristics of the colour pink are determined by how many red characteristics and white characteristics get mixed together to create it. With this in mind it could be tricky to find your characteristics as you've got two strong colours mixed in together. **But basically, white is the potential for fullness, while red helps you to achieve that potential. **Mmm, I'm not actually sure how this applies to you…but I have a feeling that it could describe that loneliness and cut off feeling that you said you felt when you and your children are ignored and treated as outcast by the majority – yeah sorry about that by the way….. Anyway, just like Athena, you have the potential to make things better for yourself, but only you can eventually get enough motivation and determination to change how things are and to make your dreams and desires a reality.

"Also, **pink combines these energies, as shades of deep pink like magenta are effective in neutralizing disorder and violence, where some prisons use limited deep pink tones to diffuse aggressive behaviour. **Mmm,… hard one again to answer…though it could hint that out of the three of you," Hermes glanced at the three brothers in front of him, "–rather ironically I might add – that Hades is either the least violent of the lot of you , or has the best potential to put and end –or at least neutralise upcoming fights. Which is true, as it's mostly you and Poseidon, dad, who fight all the time – where Hades just sits in the background watching."

"By the way," Apollo cut in to talk to Hades, "have you happened to read up on the meaning of various colours before? Because I find it very ironic that you've also gone to paint your dungeon this colour pink! But enough of this," the sun god moved on as Hades was about to speak, "and let's move on with the explanation or we'll be here all day."

"Yes bro, I agree with you there," Hermes winked at him, before carrying on again, "**Pink is a quiet colour** - which goes with what I was saying before about you Uncle, where you'd rather watch people fight than get involved in it-. **Pink is also the colour of universal love** – so I think this is referring to your true feelings for your wife...," at this, Persephone and Demeter leaned forward in curiosity to hear the description. **"Lovers of beauty favour pink-"**

"Aww," Persephone gushed at hearing that as she quickly snuggled into her husband's chest, "you love me and you think I'm beautiful? What a wonderful husband you are!"

Hades meanwhile smiled warmly back at her and planted a gentle kiss on her blushing cheek, "I truly do," he whispered, as Hermes carried on.

"**A pink carnation means 'I will never forget you**`- so the love that you feel for this particular person right now is pure and intense – where you'll never leave this person nor will you be disloyal to this person, as your heart at this moment will never allow you to forget this person and therefore it would never allow you to betray her."

Demeter meanwhile, kept looking at her brother as though she'd never seen him before until now.

_Can this possibly be true_? She wondered inwardly, as tears threatened to spill from her reddened eyes. All these years of hating him and having him break her poor daughters heart, was it honestly possible for him to change so completely that I would not only stand to accept him as my son in law but like him as well?

"And finally," Hermes recited once more, oblivious to her inward struggle, "**Pink provides feelings of caring, tenderness, self-worth, love and acceptance**-so you really are turning into being such a great husband after all Uncle H, as those are some of the traits that you have right now. So, with this in mind, I figure that this can only be your weakness (along with the whole keeping a grudge thing that you do all so well, but we'll forget I mentioned this for now). I say this is because sometimes when people hurt someone you love, you hold a grudge against it so badly that you always try to take revenge in the worst way that you possibly can, which always makes your brothers and the others wary about you, as they're kinda scared to risk upsetting you in fear of what you might do to them in return."

"Like cutting off your nose to spite your face?" Chiron spoke up and the others nodded at the cold truth.

"Yup," Hermes said looking at a bewildered Hades, "exactly that, so you really need to be careful and to think things through more instead of acting like a raging bull and trying to hurt everyone around you when something goes wrong –add some more white to your red if you know what I mean? **You should put some pink in your life when you want: calm feelings –** which you have…until you lose your temper, so there's something to work on – **to neutralize disorder** – where instead of simply watching people fight you should try to stop the fighting altogether as you'd be a better person and people would respect you more for it – **relaxation, acceptance and contentment** – which I think is your greatest desire to have for your children…if you had any anyway…from the gods and their own children."

As Apollo disabled the charm on Hades, Poseidon and Zeus continued to stare at their older brother, not sure what to think about him. It was certainly true that between the three of them that the sea and the sky started most of the arguments, either by Zeus pride, ego and anger, or Poseidon's rebellious and childish attitude and temper, where Hades was normally either pulled into the fight by their constant taunting, or in the instance that one or both of them accidentally or purposely did something to the things or beings Hades had grown to care about. However, even though Hades rarely started an argument between the gods, he most often than not finished them, by hitting the both of them and their loved ones with sometimes as much as ten times the force that they had used on him in the first place.

However, this devastating technique that Hades had used on the two brothers didn't frighten the both of them enough not to leave him and his belongings/people alone as he'd thought would happen. No, the two youngest brothers had only gotten even angrier and angrier and strove to hit the god back with even worse attacks: which of course began the whole horrid cycle all over again.

Now as they glanced at their oldest brother they felt guilty and slightly ashamed of their previous actions, where they silently vowed someday that they'd make it up to him somehow in any way that they could. For now though, they'd focus on reading the chapters of the books and simply working to get to know each other better.

The both of them were so wrapped up in thought that they had not heard the name that Chiron had read out next, where they immediately threw their attentions back to the explanations that were being provided once more.

"Right then, mother," Hermes was address Hera, "let's see what your golden appearance with the little bits of orange represents."

"**We actually had the idea for gold**," Apollo began, "**from the Tibetan Buddhist who believed in five sacred stones**. **The first is the crystal for light** – which suggests that your loyalty is pure and is strongly anchored towards the good side…which is us, so good for you, mom! **The second stone is the turquoise stone for the infinity of the sky and sea** – which we thought was a metaphor for you always trying to keep the piece between us family members, especially when you're always stepping in to try to stop Zeus and Poseidon from murdering each other and the world, so once again it shows your family loyalty.

"**The third stone is the coral for life and form –** which show us your connection to the world, where you care what happens to the different life forms below us on earth, as a "Queen of the Heavens" and our mother figure should. **The fourth stone that makes up the definition of the colour gold is, of course, gold, for the golden ray of the sun, and the fifth stone is silver, which stands for the light of the moon. **This basically means that, as the head of our family –after dad, of course – you have to be a balanced person, where you should consider both sides of something before you make a judgement. Therefore, your weakness is more like Athena's than anything else (as you also have the orange swirls on your skin as further proof of it) where you tend to only consider one way of looking at something, and forget that there's a totally other way, which could lead to more misunderstandings and fighting.

"For example," Hermes said, "you've always wanted a perfect family, where you've done anything to have that in the past. You think –or used to always think – that a perfect family meant everyone looking appropriately, acting appropriately, speaking and thinking appropriately, etc, like a bunch of robots. But, if you were to ask Apollo on his version of a perfect family, he'd probably paint you a simple version of us all getting along whilst listening and laughing to all his jokes and poetry."

"The point is," Apollo rolled his eyes at his brother's description, "is that there's more than one version of the world that you need to consider to be an adequate Queen and mother: where you need to balance all these different versions and come to one realistic one in between them all."

"I understand," Hera sighed from her throne, "especially lately from reading these books that there are many more views of how the world should be other than mine, where I need to start listening to those around me to learn anything from them to try to get what I want from life."

"Right," Hermes nodded, feeling slightly stunned as he half expected his step mother to start fighting him over this point. "**It is no surprise that gold symbolises wealth used wisely** – wisdom – **and is the symbol of good health **– so I guess congratulations is in order there! **People who favour the colour gold are optimistic** – well, I guess you are an optimistic person in general…as it's got to be the reason why you've taken dad back so may times after he's been out cheating on you… as you hope that he'll come to his senses soon and will have eyes only for you.

"Finally," the messenger god declared, "**you should put some gold in your life when you want: increased personal power** – well, you do have good control over yourself and your emotions – **relaxation and enjoyment of life** – where you really should do more of that in the future and copy Apollo for once…I promise you that you won't regret it! – **and good health and success."**

A silence lasted for a few moments as Apollo broke the charm on his stepmother.

"Thank you for that," Hera said at last, "it was highly interesting to say the least!"

"Your welcome," Apollo grinned at her, before moving on to the next victim, which happened to be Demeter.

"Okay," Hermes began, "to start off with, we'll start by explaining your red skin, then we'll move onto the orange flecks."

"**The colour red**," Apollo began, "**is the warmest of all colours- **so you know straight away this isn't going to be a cool or calm reading of you auntie…bad luck**. Red is the colour chosen by extroverts and one of the top picks for males **–as it's mostly males who tend to follow the act first think later method of life**. On the negative side, red can mean temper or anger** – well, you have to admit auntie, that you do have quite a bit of a temper (especially towards our dear, ol' Uncle H) Maybe this could be interpreted as a warning that your temper and anger will not help solve things and will only make things worse – where it's warning you to bring back some white into your life, so that you can think clearly once again, as your temper and anger can cloud your judgment about a situation or a person, that can lead to misunderstandings and confrontations to be made.

"**However in China, the colour red can also be referred to as the colour of prosperity and joy, as brides wear the colour red and front doors are often painted red. **Mmmm, that's interesting…This point could lead to a number of things, but I think I'll keep reading for now to get some more information to try to better connect this part of the colour to you. Red roses symbolise passionate love – that's a very strong love, Dem –good for you! Though, I highly doubt by the description provided that it's talking about Persephone, as passionate is closer linked to romance than anything else. Maybe this tells us about a hidden desire of your Demeter, as you must be feeling rather lonesome when Persephone has to leave you to go back to the Underworld. Maybe your heart is wishing for someone to stop the loneliness – who could make you happy, and therefore prosperous again.

"**Red is the colour of Mars, which is known as the God of War**-so you can understand Ares, why red has been added to you. **Red is the colour of blood, and as such has a strong symbolism as life and vitality. It brings focus to the essence of life and living with emphasis on survival. Red is also the colour of passion and lust –** so it confirms what I said previously: that your heart desires a partner to stand by its side throughout times of loneliness.

"**So you can now understand why that red is connected with fiery passion, warmth and love, but is also connected to danger and violence, can't you? **A little bit of red in your life is a good thing, as it can make you feel so alive and special, where to much red is bad for you as it can blind you to reason and the feelings of all those around you.

"**You should put some red into your life when you desire to have increased enthusiasm and interest** – which your heart clearly desires I think, so you really should learn to let your stubbornness go and follow it – **more energy** – so that you can start truly living your life instead of just tending to your crops and moaning about Hades 24/7 – **action and confidence to go after your dreams** - which I've basically just said – **and protection from fears and anxieties** – so you should learn to let things like problems and worries go and to just have fun in the moment once in a while."

"And as for your orange flecks," Hermes took over as he glanced at his aunt, who kept her eyes firmly downward and wouldn't meet anyone's gaze, "I think again it refers to Athena and Hera's message – where you should just try to relax and pamper yourself once in a while."

"Now," Apollo started again after returning Demeter's skin to its original colour, "I think we'll move quickly on to Ares this time – just because it will save time with the explanations."

A few grumbles erupted around the room, but no one outwardly objected, which left Ares smiling widely.

"Alright!" he yelled, "what does mine say then?"

"Well," Hermes began, "as we look at you we see that your skin is blended with bits of red and brown – like a tie and dye t-shirt, where we'll quickly explain the red part of you before we move onto the brown.

"You see," Hermes continued, "we think that the colour red that you're wearing firstly reflects your "god of war" nature – as of course your status is going to be full of strong and fiery emotion, danger and violence. But, as I said to Demeter, too much is actually really bad for you – as it can cloud your better judgement and thought processes, where you're more than likely to make rash decision than well thought out plans, and although sometimes it can be good to rely solely on your instincts and your emotions, for the most part of it it's not. So what I'm trying to tell you is to learn to work more closely with Athena in the future to get some more white into your life: as this way, not only will it make you a better fighter, but a better person."

"How will it make me a better person though?" Ares said frowning. He'd understood the fighting part – though he thought it would kill him to work with that annoying hag – but he didn't have a clue about the people part. Who cares though, he thought, as long as my fighting will get better.

Hermes meanwhile frowned at him in bewildered, "Well," he said in a tone of voice that sounded more like 'isn't it obvious?` "At the moment, almost all you can think about is fighting – where you talk about it with a passion, love and care. But we never hear you caring about the people who suffer in these wars, either through death, torture or a loss of a loved one – which makes us all feel that you don't get it. That you don't get that war isn't a form of entertainment for the rest of us – that we really detest it and try to avoid it if we can possibly help it as it causes nothing but feelings of loss and sadness.

"Your obsession goes so far that you all but ignore us and our feelings, where you often say comments that insult and hurt us, where you don't seem the least bit sorry and don't apologise for them afterwards. That's why we feel that you should have some more white in your life, and to study next to Athena for a while, as you need to learn to be more thoughtful and wise, or you're never going to change and improve."

"Now," Apollo carried on, as he saw that the situation was turning more awkward by the minute, "I'll explain the colour brown to you. **Brown can mix into many surroundings, as it's a mixture of blue, red and yellow **– so strong, vivid colours – **and has many shades and tones that produce different aspects of your personality** – like the pink was for Hades- where the characteristics of brown depend on how well mixed are the characteristics of the other colours that we've just mentioned.

"**The colour red in brown gives it a practical/passionate energy** – where the level or amount of it depends on how much red has been added (though in your case Ares, a little too much!) – **while the yellow and the blue can add mental focus energies** – oh, so I think the charm picked the colour brown for you to show the sort of person you could be if you decide to change, where it lists favourable characteristics.

"**Brown can be a stabilizing colour** – yup, I was right! - **where people who prefer brown are often conventional and orderly. Though too much brown can make a dull effect** – so even though we want you to have more brown qualities, we know not to ask for too much, as sometimes we kind of like your hyperactive side. **Brown also gives a feeling of solidity** – as it's balanced between passion and wisdom – **where some shades of brown create a warm, comfortable feeling or wholesomeness, naturalness and dependability.**

"**The negative meaning of brown can be a repressed personality** – which would be extremely weird on you Ares, as we're used to you being such the opposite of that! – **or a lazy person**. Well, if it doesn't concern fighting as you normally rush in to action there, you're a lazy person alright, so I don't think this line concerns you much! **Brown is also the colour of the earth and is associated with the material side of life.**

"**You should put some brown in your life when you want: a solid wholesome feeling** – which is the balance between wisdom and passion that I mentioned earlier that will not only help your fighting skills but will help you get along better with your family and friends – **a connection with natural earth and the stability this brings and orderliness and convention."**

"Okay," Athena smiled to herself as that last reading was finished, "that was interesting."

"I'll say," Hades shook his head at Ares' typical prediction, "who's next?"

"Well," Chiron said as he began to read the next bit of paper, "the next person is Mr., uh, I mean, Dionysus."

"Oh, great," the god of wine sighed, knowing that he was just about to get humiliated like Ares any minute now, "then I'm going to do the nice thing and ask you to skip my reading."

"What!" Demeter raised her normal looking eyebrows, "why?"

"Spoilsport," Poseidon frowned at the purple god, though he understood why he had wanted to keep his reading secret, even at the cost of himself not knowing what the charm might reveal about him. After all, he himself was thinking of doing just that – to eliminate the possible ammo that Zeus might throw at him next time that he'd get into an argument with him.

"Are you sure?" Hermes looked down at his moody half brother, "I mean, it's a chance to learn more about yourself – to get to know your strengths and weaknesses after all. Are you sure you want to give it up?"

"Yup," the wine god smiled sweetly back, as there was no way that he was sharing his strengths and weaknesses with the room, especially as it could be used against him later on in life when he'd least expect it.

"Fine," Apollo shrugged, as he broke the charm and Dionysus reverted back to his original self, "suit yourself. Is there anyone else who doesn't want to do this?"

Artemis and Hephaestus instantly put up their hands, which were followed almost immediately with Zeus and Poseidon, who smirked at each other in understanding.

The others in the room turned to stare at the four of them either in annoyance as the ones who'd had their reading done already didn't realise that they could have refused, or Athena, as she thought they were all ignoring their chance to gain wisdom, or Hera, who sighed at their childish attitudes- as she realised that this wasn't the best way to get everybody to trust each other.

After another moments hesitation, Aphrodite had also put her hand up – believing that she'd much rather not know why the charm had chosen such a horrible colour for her, and didn't want anyone looking down their noses at her like they did to Ares when they found out.

"Okay, okay," Hermes sighed, as he took the charm off everyone but Persephone, who still shone bright yellow and pink from her throne in front. "That just leaves us then with our youngest sister – then we'll continue to read the next chapter."

"So," continued Apollo, as he smiled kindly at the goddess of springtime, "we'll start with the yellow and then we'll finish on the pink, okay?"

As the young Queen nodded her approval, Hermes continued on with the final explanation, "As there are different types of yellow, the shade of the yellow determines the meaning. For example pure, bright and sunny yellow – which is the colour that you have – is the easiest colour to see – which suggest that you're an easy person to read emotions from, where your not secretive in nature, but open and honest. People who are blind to other colours can usually see yellow – so this means that you can either stand out in a crowd or that when people look at you, they can see the real you, and not some false version you or them have created in their minds.

"Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy – which I'm sure that you get from your mothers side…or is that both parents, as both her and Zeus display a version of the colour red? Ahh, this is complicated stuff! Yellow is used to symbolise wisdom – so under all that beauty, you have a big brain too…no wonder Hades always turns to you for advice – joy and happiness – which explains why we've always seen you laughing lately…Hades must be doing something right, eh?"

"Oh, shut up, brother!" Persephone blushed a scarlet red as she leaned across to hide her face in Hades' chest.

"Make me," Hermes grinned childishly at her, before carrying on. "Like the energy of a bright sunny day, yellow brings clarity and awareness. The shade of yellow determines its effect: yellow green can mean deceit – so no deceit here, as I can't find any green – and creates a disoriented feeling. Orange-yellow imparts a sense of establishment – no…can't see any orange either…Clean light yellow clears the mind, making it active and alert – yup, that's the yellow, and all I'm hearing is good news so far, so keep up the good work, my brainy sis!

Athena snorted at that, and sent a hurtful look to the two gods standing before her, "Oh," she snorted, "so you compliment her for showing an ounce of intelligence, but you constantly tease and insult me?"

"Aww," Apollo went to hug her in comfort, "don't feel bad about that. It's just that she's showing a balance of intelligence and fun and not simply one or the other, like the two of us do- so I think it's a good thing to encourage her to keep at it, don't you?"

"I guess," Athena admitted at last, "does that mean then, that you are planning to grow some intelligence?"

"Only if you're planning to sprout some fun," he retaliated, as Athena shook her head in amusement.

"I'll work on it," she said at last, as Apollo let go of her to move into the centre of the room once more.

"Then so will I," he winked at her in return before Hermes began reading where he left off.

"You should put some yellow in your life when you want: clarity for decision-making, relief from panic, nervousness, exhaustion, sharper memory and concentration skills and protection from lethargy and depression during dull weather."

"And you already know the properties of pink," Apollo smiled at her as he broke the charm that encircled her, "that it mostly stands for the love that you have for your husband, blah, blah, blah."

"I will never forget you," Hades remembered with a little smile on his face as he glanced down at his sleeping wife.

_She truly loves me…_

"Yup," Apollo confirmed, "so I can safely confirm that you're a healthy individual with no obvious weaknesses, other than gullibility of course."

"Then," Hera questioned the both of them, "it's safe to assume that we can quickly move on with the reading of the next chapter?"

"Yup," both men replied happily as they once again took their thrones.

"Splendid," the queen smiled at them both, "then who would like to read next?"

"I think Dionysus should," Hermes grinned at his brother, "seeing as how he didn't partake in our little game."

"Fine," he sighed as he went to reach for the book.

_**(A.N. Okay, I'll just post this chapter up and get started on the reading part of it…(though I find it ironic that even though Hera cancelled their break, they ended up probably having a longer break) Eyes rolling at the irony.**_

_**P.s. anyone who wants to find out what colour they are Pm me or review and I'll come back to you with a set of questions that'll help me decide in the same type of style that I did the gods. **_

_**T.T.F.N**_

_**Oh, p.p.s. sorry I didn't do everyone's reading, but it was important that I left some people out as it was important later on in the story – plot wise that is.**_

_**However, if you want to know what the description of the colours that were written on the paper were, then you can read below (though you'll have to guess which parts are important for which gods – at least until I mention my version in later chapters)**_

In case you didn't remember – Aphrodite is gray, Dionysus as far as anyone can see is indigo/purple –though it's too dark to make out the exact shade the wine god is. Some even say that he's got a small dot of white on the back of his right hand. Poseidon is mostly shades of various green and blue , Artemis is mostly white, with bits of blue and orange thrown in and Zeus is a mixture of green and red with specks of blue. Hephaestus then is the colour of royal clear/pure blue, with specks of what looks like to be black and flashes of pink.

_**Grey**__ is the true neutral colour, as its energy imparts void, emptiness, lack of movement, emotion, warmth and identifying characteristics. Because of this, gray can be restful. It has a detached and isolated feeling, where grey can have a cooling effect when placed next to other more vibrant colours. It has a stabilizing effect, making vibrant colours stand out while muting their vibration. Grey is the colour of sorrow. People who favour grey can be the lone wolf type or narrow-minded, where gray with more silver in it can be a very active colour. _

_You should put some grey into your life when you want: a neutral, non-invasive feeling or an unsure mind, to reduce the intense energy of another colour or to feel detached or isolated. Further, it is also known that grey gemstones are healing stones and can assist in improving relationships towards more stability. _

_**Blue**__ is the coolest colour - the colour of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. The ancient Egyptians for example, used lapis lazuli to represent heaven, where blue also symbolizes the Virgin Mary – I know, not a part of our culture, but still, it's important..._

_A pure blue is the colour of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is often the chosen colour by conservative people and is the calming colour. That makes it a wonderful colour to use in the home, especially for babies… it is, honestly! Blue is so soothing that is a good choice for pyjamas. Dark blue is the colour of truth and moderation. A blue iris means your friendship is very important to me, where you'd wear blue gemstones to feel calm. _

_**Turquoise**__ is the symbol of youth. This colour has a soothing affect and is the colour of communication. It contains the growth quality of __green__ with the __blue__ quality of communication. Turquoise has long been used in amulets to provide protection, health, confidence and strength, where aqua is the colour of high ideals. _

_Anyway, back to __blue__**…**__Blue gives a feeling of distance. Artists use it to show perspective. This is a good way to understand the energy of the colour blue - it allows us to look beyond and increase our perspective outward. It contains a cool vibration that is helpful to communication. The vibration if blue can be used to open energy flow where it is blocked. Using blue to relax will encourage feelings of communication and peace._

_You should put some blue into your life when you want: calm and relaxation to counteract chaos or agitation, to open the flow of communication, to broaden your perspective in learning new information and solitude and peace._

_**Green**__ contains the powerful energies of nature, growth and desire to expand or increase. Balance and a sense of order are found in the colour green. Change and transformation is necessary for growth, and so this ability to sustain changes is also a part of the energy of green. It is the colour of nature, fertility and life, where grass green is the most restful colour. _

_Green symbolizes self-respect and well being, as the colour green is the colour of balance. It also means learning, growth and harmony. Green is a safe colour, where, if you don't know what colour to use anywhere use green as it is favoured by well balanced people. _

_Green symbolizes the master healer and the life force. It often symbolizes money. It was believed green was healing for the eyes. Egyptians wore green eyeliner, where eyeshades are still used, where you should eat raw green foods for good health… though it's quite disgusting, isn't it?_

_You should put some green in your life when you want: a new state of balance, feel a need for change or growth, freedom to pursue new ideas or protection from fears and anxieties connected with the demands of others. _

_**Purple**__ is the colour of good judgment, where it is the colour of people seeking spiritual fulfilment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind, as it is a good colour to use in meditation. Purple has been used to symbolize magic and mystery, as well as royalty. Being the combination of red and blue, the warmest and coolest colours – so you can expect this reading to certainly be interesting! - purple is believed to be the ideal colour. For example, most children love the colour purple, where it is the colour most favoured by artists. _

_**Violet**__ then, is the colour of purpose, where it's also a combination of blue and red. Red is a focusing, passionate and active energy while blue is cooling, calming and expansive. Violet brings a new dynamic to the expansion of blue and the activity of red. For this reason, violet is associated with imagination and inspiration. _

_You should put this colour in your life when you want: to use your imagination to its fullest, to re-balance your life, to remove obstacles, to calm over-activity or to energize from depression or madness. _

_**Indigo**__ then, is the colour of the deep midnight sky where it can have a negative effect when used during a depressed state, because it will deepen the mood. The colour indigo symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery and spiritual realization. While blue is the colour of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward, to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings. While blue can be fast, Indigo is almost instantaneous, where inventors use indigo skills for inspirations that seem to 'come out of the blue'._

_You should put some indigo into your life when you want: to focus on personal issues, to develop intuition, to step outside of everyday life for a new and interesting way of viewing a problem or solitude and inner communication._

_**Black**__ is the most misunderstood colour – (though it isn't a colour strictly speaking, as in truth it is the absence of all colour.) When people speak of opposites, it is usually in terms of black and white. Black, and its opposite white, represent polarities. Black absorbs all aspects of light while white reveals, black conceals. It has come to mean hidden, fearful or bad experience. It is linked to the unknown or the unseen. In times of fear and uncertainty black contains the energy of the threatening unknown. In a positive state, black is seen as a restful emptiness into which anything may emerge and disappear once again. It is also mysterious, providing a sense of potential and possibility. _

_You should put some black into your life when you want: to become inconspicuous, to open the door to mystery, to prepare for the unknown or a restful emptiness. _


	16. Vendetta's and Pictures

_**A.N. Hey, I'm back Thanks for everyone's reviews –much appreciated! **_

_**Now I'm gonna go straight into the reading, so hope you enjoy. Remember that if anyone wants a reading of their own from the last chapter then review or PM me – though can you make sure that you've enabled PM from me please, as I've ran into some difficulties there already.**_

_**Thanks **_

_**Chapter 16 – Vendetta's and Pictures **_

"Right," Dionysus sighed grumpily holding up the book, "the next chapter's called: **'We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium."**

"Oh," Demeter stated, "that doesn't sound too bad."

"Yeah," Hestia smiled up at Poseidon, "it certainly doesn't seem to be full of danger-"

"-So maybe they'll be given a break for once?" Hera tried to cheer him up, but turned cautiously towards Dionysus and added, "I gave you the benefit of the doubt on that last chapter, Dionysus, seeing as it was full of danger and all our minds were focused on more important matters, but keep in mind my earlier threat of what would happen if you didn't start to cleanse your tongue of all those dark and cryptic comments…"

"Yes, yes," Dionysus muttered under his breath as he started to read the chapter.

**In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, **

"Oh, that's nice of him," Persephone and Aphrodite grinned at him, as Athena rolled her eyes.

"I think he's being a little sarcastic here," Hephaestus stage whispered to them, as the rest of the gods automatically tensed at the ominous first sentence of the chapter.

"Though he really shouldn't be," Apollo snorted, "as we are awesome!"

"We do oversee many various things," Demeter agreed, "and always do our best to protect and maintain those who are in our domain."

"Though," Hermes said, "from our children's point of view, I'm sure we just look like bad workaholic parents who are never around and take up too many mistresses."

"Too many cute mistresses," Apollo smiled back at him so innocently that Hermes had to laugh.

"It's so hard to get you down, isn't it?" he shook his head at Apollo's inner strength that allowed almost nothing to bother him.

"Yup," he smiled brightly, before trying to comfort his friend, "but hopefully Percy won't be thinking like this for much longer."

**because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. **

"Still," Artemis rolled her eyes, "I'm glad to see he appreciates us so much."

**For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning,**

"Which I reckon is going to be an everyday occurrence for you," Apollo teased, looking up at Poseidon, who groaned at the horrific thought.

"What?" Zeus mused at Poseidon's reaction, "knowing the boy by how much we have read of him so far, Apollo's statement appears to be a fair one."

"More than fair I'd say," Hades nodded, "seeing as how I'm sure that this will seem like nothing by the time we've read the fifth book."

"You sure know how to make a person feel better, don't you guys?" Poseidon frowned at the both of them, as friendly laughter erupted through the room. "Though the both of you still had better pray that you've stopped this 'vendetta' or whatever you want to call the thing that you've got against my son before the start of the next book…"

**and it's raining on top of everything else,**

"Yeah," Artemis snorted at the image, "who cares about the fact that you have two major gods already after your blood as long as it's not raining at the time!"

"I know," Hermes mock sighed, "I bet he's kicking himself for taking his sword now and not his umbrella."

"Yup," Apollo agreed happily, as he loved any opportunity to wind his big sister up, "but there's always next time isn't there?"

"Really?" Athena couldn't help but get into a debate that she knew was completely pointless and a waste of time, but those two had always managed to get a reaction out of her, no matter how much she had tried to ignore it. "Then what would he do then if a hoard of monsters came his way…fight with the umbrella as a weapon?"

"Hey," Hermes grinned at her," that's not a bad idea actually! Seeing as how when it's closed a long one can act like a cross between a spear and a sword, and when it's open it could act like a shield. "

"Ingenious sis," Apollo cheered at Athena, as she mentally whacked herself on her forehead with her hand, "though if we could only make the top point of it sharper and harder, and the fabric stronger – it would be the ultimate weapon!"

"Let's just read on," Chiron advised the wine god, as he feared that they'd be there all day otherwise arguing the point.

_Aww,_ Dionysus sighed, _and they were just about to start hitting each other! Ah, well…_

**most people might think that's just really bad luck;**

"Well," Demeter frowned, "it still really is bad luck, whichever way you want to interpret it."

"Ssh," Hera warned her, hating the fact that the others interrupted the reading every five seconds.

**when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.**

**So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses.**

"The Hudson _is_ pretty nasty." Poseidon said as he glared at Zeus. "And speaking of the said river, when are you going to let me fix it…I mean, it's disgusting!"

"_Later_," Zeus hissed, "write it down on a bloody piece of paper and we'll sort the whole thing out _later!"_

"Fine," Poseidon huffed at Zeus' attitude, but waiting for a moment before replying, "but brother?"

"What?" he snapped, glaring at Poseidon.

"Why does it have to be bloody?"

"Urgh!"

Poseidon smiled in retaliation as Zeus' face turned a satisfying purple as he tried to control his temper.

**Grover was shivering and braying, his goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror.**

"Poor dear," Demeter felt her heart constrict, "he's only a baby, after all…"

"But this will do him good in the long run," Chiron reasoned with her, "as he has to grow and mature sometime."

"But still," Demeter sighed, "Satyr's with much more experience and power than he has would have been better suited for this quest…"

"Not really," Chiron counteracted her, "as I'm sure his loyalty to Percy helps the trio out along this quest more than you might think."

"Yeah," Persephone felt the need to add, as she saw her mother's sadness, "I'm sure they'll be fine…don't worry so much."

"But I'm a parent," she sighed at last, "it's my job to worry."

"**Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."**

"Poor dear," she sighed again, "he's gone into shock: I told you it was too much for him…"

"Relax, mom," Persephone moved instantly to sit by her and wrapped her arms around the goddess in a tight embrace, "just relax. Give him a chance to show you that he's going to be alright on his own…that I'll –_he'll _- find a way to grow up and be just fine."

**I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."**

"**All our money was back there," I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."**

"Told you not to put your bags up there," Hades chided them smugly, "as you wouldn't have had time to get them down again once an incident such as this broke out."

"So what are they going to do about food now?" Persephone asked, as she saw that her mother had started to get panicky again.

"Well," Chiron stated, "whatever they find on their journey. If they've lost their money, then they'll either have to look for food in the wild or-"

"Take a lesson from me," Hermes finished for the centaur, "and steal it."

"Well," Athena thought of her daughter, "as long as they only borrow what they need and do their best to repay the owners of what they took…"

"**Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—"**

"Dude," Ares frowned, "it's a little something called team loyalty!"

"Yeah," Apollo smiled warmly at the book, "as if Percy'll leave them to fight on their own."

"**What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"**

"No," Hera smiled, "she's simply too prideful – like her mother and grandfather I might add – to admit that you saved her life and that she's grateful."

"True," Hades nodded as Zeus shot him a glare. "But it is!"

"**You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine." **

"**Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."**

Everyone laughed while Athena scowled.

"**Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.**

"Ooh," Apollo laughed, "someone hit a nerve!"

Athena wacked him around the head at that, with a low muttered comment that sounded like, 'stupid boy.`

**Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans … a perfectly good bag of tin cans."**

"Mmm," Artemis mused, "I hope there was actually food_ inside_ the tin cans for the others…"

"Yeah," Hephaestus gave a little smile, "as unlike mine, their teeth aren't adapted well enough to break through the hard textures."

"What?" Dionysus momentarily took his focus from the page he was reading to stare at the forge god in mild surprise, "so you do actually eat metal on a regular basis then?"

"Well," Hephaestus bragged, "I wouldn't say on a regular basis, but once in a while, yes- I do indulge eating some various versions of metals and other sorts of materials."

"WHY?"

"Some for experimental purposes," he answered, his face was mischievous now, "some because I was so engrossed in my work that I couldn't be bothered to go all the way to the refrigerator, and some just because I was in the mood for it and I liked the taste."

The funny thing was, most of the room's occupants couldn't tell if the god was fooling them, or was actually being serious.

"Hrm," Dionysus said at last, before he read on, "Well, that was definitely an interesting conversation…"

**We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry. **

"Urgh," Aphrodite gagged, "another Gabe reference I think."

"Seriously," Hermes sighed at Zeus and Poseidon, "if we don't get to kill him after we finish the books, can we at least buy him some washing powder and make him wear perfume?"

Zeus didn't even find the question worthy of answering, where he merely grunted once and commanded Dionysus to continue.

**After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to me. "Look, I…" Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."**

Athena smiled proudly at her daughter's ability to surpass her nature long enough to do the right thing, were the others just shook their heads and started smiling warmly: with the exception of Aphrodite, who cooed loudly at the couple in excitement.

"**We're a team, right?"**

"So sweet!" Aphrodite giggled, "honestly Athena, I'm telling you they'd make a GREAT romantic couple!"

_Riiight,_ Athena rolled her eyes at the goddesses' stubbornness_, like that's ever going to happen if I have anything to say about it…_

**She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died … aside from the fact that it would really suck for you,**

"Nah, it would only be a minor setback," Hermes rolled his eyes at the not so wise remark from the goddess of wisdom's daughter.

"Yeah," Apollo agreed, "knowing him he'll have something up his sleeve to be able to escape from dead land and everything…"

"…and have a cup of tea with Hades and the ladies on the way out," Hermes continued, "in thanks of them all being good hosts and everything while he was out of action for a while…"

"…and still have time to save the day…" Apollo smiled.

"…and have another cup of blue tea afterwards to celebrate!" Hermes finished, as the other's just shook their heads at the both of them as they were used to the two of them acting up in this sort of fashion.

"Idiots," Artemis smirked at them, as the group slowly moved onwards.

**it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."**

"I get where she's coming from and all," Demeter said, "but still, that wasn't a very thoughtful remark."

"Plus," Hera spoke up, "none of them really seem to care too much about what will happen to Olympus –and in consequence the world – because of these two here, don't they?" she pointed at her husband and brother in silence as the others took their time to allow the comment to sink in.

**The thunderstorm had finally let up. **

_Finally_, Zeus sighed happily in relief, knowing that he was free – for now at least – of Poseidon's anger. _I hope Hades is as lucky…_

**The city glow fades behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair. **

"**You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her. **

"**No… only short field trips. My dad—"**

"I guess that must suck," Aphrodite pouted at the comment, "not being able to go out and have a good time once in a while, like all the other teenagers in the world."

"Yeah," Hephaestus agreed with her, "especially as they only seem to leave the camp to deal with monsters!"

"Maybe we should organise a fun day for them?" Apollo suggested, "where one day a month or something they could have a break from the monster world to do whatever they want to do."

"Within reason, of course," Demeter shuddered to think what the occupants from Apollo and Hermes' cabin would do with these days of freedom.

"But," Athena pointed out the flaw in the idea, "what if a group of monsters or a band of enemies threatens to attack on these so called 'days off'?"

"Well," Hermes said reluctantly, "if we do manage to convince dad to help us to get to give our children fun days off in the mortal world in the future, I don't want to push him too far in suggesting that we or any of our servants will take their places for that small length of time, as I figure that will count as interfering too much. But, if an opposing army does decide to attack on one of these days, then I guess our children will have no choice but to fight, where we'll have to rearrange the date to another time and try our best to compensate them if they'd already booked tickets for something."

"But," Hera spotted another flaw in the plan, "even if we could give our children these days off, we can't afford to have all the children have a day off at the same time, as our enemies will notice this rather quickly and will move to attack us when we are the most vulnerable."

"Plus," Persephone added, "it wouldn't be fair to the children if there was an attack on these days and we'd have to call them away from their special days to fight, as I'm sure that they would be looking forward for this day for a while. So, I think the smartest option would be to split the campers into different groups – probably their parental groups, or groups of friends – where each group would get an outing at different dates, as that way they'd have others to fight for them if someone or something were to attack."

Zeus mused over this for a moment, before saying, "I don't see anything particularly wrong with this suggestion – though we'd have to surround the groups thickly with mist to stop any enemies from attacking them."

"Really?" Apollo raised his eyebrows at his father.

"Well," Zeus shrugged his shoulders, "we're not interfering with any quests or battles – nor are we showing any kind of favouritism to our children, so I suppose one day off a month to do whatever they wish –within reason," he suddenly glared at the two pranksters in the room, " – is actually pretty reasonable. Though, of course, we'll have to discuss the travel arrangements, possible costs and time tables at a later date, as well as any possibilities of us joining our children on these days."

Everyone's spirits magically lifted after that last statement, where bright and refreshed smiles could be seen clearly as Dionysus read onwards.

"**The history professor."**

"So," Ares asked, "what part of the book are we on now? That last talk of ours made me forget the last lines of the chapter."

Dionysus gave a sigh and slowly read through the last few sentences of the chapter again to make sure everyone was up to date.

"Ah," Ares thanked him, "the girl's daddy."

"Yes," Athena smiled happily at the past memories that came floating forwards of that comical young man, and frowned once more, trying to guess what had gone wrong in his and their daughter's relationship for her not to have left the camp since she was seven.

_I mean,_ she sighed at the pair of them_, I knew that their relationship had become rocky, but I had never guessed it would actually escalate to this…_

"**Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood **_**is**_** my home." She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her.**

"Does she not get along with her father, then?" Artemis turned towards Athena in slight sympathy, where the latter shook her head sadly, hoping that they would soon get back on good terms.

"**At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not." **

**If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice.**

"**You're pretty good with that knife," I said.**

"**You think so?"**

"**Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."**

"And me," Ares nodded his head in approval, "though I wish I could have seen it in real life."

"Ditto," Hermes said simply, which allowed Dionysus to carry on.

**I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled. **

"**You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you… Something funny back on the bus…"**

**Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill **_**toot-toot-toot**_**, like the sound of an owl being tortured.**

As Athena gasped in what appeared to be horror mixed with outrage and disgust, Hephaestus spoke up. "And once again," the forge god rolled his eyes at the description, "I'd like to ask how does he know what these crazy things sound, taste, smell or look like?"

"Don't know," the others shrugged, as Dionysus lifted his head out of the book, "Perhaps it's an effect of an exceptionally bad case of ADHD which allows him to not only observe these little things out of the corner of his eye but remember them too for later use, or a cause of an over-reactive imagination…either way, I have a feeling that we'll never know for sure – unless one of us here will approach him and ask him for themselves – so let us kindly be quiet and move on with the nice and relaxing story, hmmm?"

The others present rolled their eyes at the god's attempt at being nicer and friendlier, before the said god continued with the story.

"**Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. **"**If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"**

"Pfft," Zeus rolled his eyes, "what's the use of that when you can't even play it decently to begin with?"

At that, Demeter threw one of her green and sparkly knitting needles that she'd kept under her throne as something to occupy her in times of immense boredom, and lobbed them straight at the face of the king of the gods in frustration. "Be nice!" she warned him darkly, as he pressed his hands tenderly against his reddening cheek and glared at her in shock and barely contained anger.

"He's still young," she reminded him, "where he needs time to learn and mature into the type of person you expect him to be. Plus," she added, "I bet anything that you want, brother, that by the end of the books that you'll have complimented him of how well he's matured despite everything, and that you've actually grown to like him!"

"That will never happen," he rolled his eyes at her and was about to ask Dionysus to continue when Demeter spoke up again- not ready to let him put an end to this discussion.

"Then you wouldn't mind if we bet on it," Demeter smiled innocently at Zeus, which made the other god's and goddesses' look upon her with surprise and fascination, as Demeter was never usually the betting type of person.

"Alright," Zeus smiled, "you lose and I - and the rest of the Olympian council - never have to hear you complaining about either Hades or Persephone again."

"Fine," she smiled, completely sure of herself, "but if you lose then I – and the rest of the Olympian council, as you so nicely put it – never have to hear you complain about any of your brothers again."

"Fine," Zeus smiled, equally confident, "Will you swear it on the river Styx?"

As the oath was sworn, thunder roared from above them and the members in the throne room looked at each other in fascination of the latest happenings. Though, before any of them had a chance to gossip about it, or to make bets of their own, Dionysus started reading hastily, leaving the others hurriedly catching up with him…

**He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.**

Zeus couldn't help but wave and smirk towards Demeter, who instantly did the same in reverse back at him.

_Whatever he says,_ she decided firmly_, it will be me who will get the last laugh…_

**Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-sized knot on my head.**

This caused everyone to chuckle Zeus loudest of all, where Poseidon only rolled his eyes at the irony.

_Give him water anytime,_ he smiled softly, _and he will never become lost…_

**Add to the list of superpowers I did **_**not**_** have: infrared vision.**

"Infrared vision is lame, anyway." Apollo said.

"Yeah, I'd rather have x-ray vision," Hermes agreed, as Aphrodite slowly raised her eyebrows highly in question and deep amusement.

"No, not like that!" the messenger god rolled his eyes, "though it might be an added bonus I'll admit…No, what I was thinking of is, he could use it to check through things to see if any threats were there."

"Which is pretty smart of you," Athena nodded her approval and wrote the idea down on her newly formed book of things that they needed to do when the books were over: where she added this bit of information into the 'useful things to invent' pile 'to better increase of children's survival rate.'

**After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colours of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food.**

"Is that all most guys think about," Artemis asked as she layed back into her seat in what appeared to be a more comfortable position. "food?"

"Yeah, pretty much," everyone replied in amusement.

"And don't forget fights," Ares added grinning.

"Or sex..uh," Apollo noted the less amused faces from the females, "the sexually prohibited, uh, video games?"

"Riiiight…"

**I realized I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill, where we lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. This boy needed a double cheeseburger.**

"That'll only make you fat and unattractive!" Aphrodite said, disgusted, though a little amused at the boy's enthusiasm.

"Though feeling exceptionally happy and full of energy," Hermes snorted, as Hephaestus nodded in agreement.

"After all," Hades said reasonably, "once in a while is fine, isn't it?"

"As long as they find a way to pay for it," Dionysus said ominously, which immediately turned people's attention back towards the book.

**We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.**

"It seems a little fishy to me," Poseidon admitted, which forced the others to listen more closely.

**It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like I'd hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. **

"Which is also filled with greasy food – or at least the smell of it?" Demeter asked, confused. "I don't know about this…it does sound peculiar indeed…"

**The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.**

**To me, it looked like: **_**ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM**_**. **

"**What the heck does that say?" I asked. **

"**I don't know," Annabeth said. **

"Ah, yeah," Apollo sighed, as he was momentarily distracted, "I forgot that your daughter was dyslexic too Athena."

"Well, of course they would be," Athena frowned at her brother, "though I really wish they weren't, as they loose out on so much opportunities…"

"Yeah," Hermes nodded empathetically, "I know how you feel – even though I'm not keen on the whole learning business, I do realise that being able to read and write in English plays a big part in today's modern society, where it's normally hard for them to get a decent job I today's modern world…though I don't think the constant threat of monsters helps the situation much either."

"Maybe," Apollo suggested, as he knew how upset his sister sometimes got over this sensitive issue, "you should write this down on your ever growing list where all of us together as a team can try to work in unison to think of the solutions we need?"

"I'd like that," Athena smiled as she moved quickly to write it down.

"Besides," Apollo added, "even though dyslexia affects most of our children, that just means that yours are all doubly determined to better their reading and writing skills, so don't feel bad about them. After all, your son did succeed in writing these five books to us, didn't he?"

With tears in her eyes at her brother's kind words, Athena bowed her head, which was a perfect signal for Dionysus to keep on reading.

**She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too. **

**Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."**

With the image of the silent statues and the repeat of the title fresh in their minds, Persephone and Hades turned pale white.

_No,_ he prayed inwardly as he tried to act like everything was fine, _this can't be the work of…it can't be her…oh, geez! Athena and Poseidon as definitely going to kill me over this…_

_Maybe they won't even mention our names? _Persephone suggested, as she realised now the horrible truth about her garden's ornaments._ With a bit of luck, maybe this can go unnoticed until we get rid of the evidence…_

**Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.**

"That's weird…" Artemis stated, as Athena's face scrunched up in concentration.

"Yeah," Apollo agreed with his twin. "I mean, who'd want to take a picture of garden gnomes, much less sit in front of them and make statues of them."

Athena rolled her eyes, "I wonder…"

**I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.**

"Boys," Artemis had to smile at that, "controlled by their stomach's…"

"I happen to notice," Hermes retaliated, "that your statement has kind of a flaw in it-"

"-seeing as Annabeth's a girl and all that," Ares finished with a grin, but Artemis was not to be put out.

"That may be true," she smirked, "though I'm pretty sure that the original statement mentioned in the book said that the boy's only were that focused on finding the food…"

"…"

Her smile widened at that. She so loved getting the last word.

"**Hey…" Grover warned.**

"Uh-oh," Chiron stated as the others frowned: as you know it's a bad situation when a Satyr isn't first in line to get his dinner.

"What now?" Poseidon sighed tiredly, "Can't my nerves have a break for at least one chapter?"

"Nope," Dionysus put extra emphasis on the 'p', as the others chuckled slightly.

"Dionysus," Hera warned him, but Dionysus just sent her an innocent look.

"What?" he cried. "I was only speaking the truth!"

"**The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."**

"**Snack bar," I said wistfully.**

"Go find another snack bar," Persephone tried to encourage them.

"**Snack bar," she agreed. **

Athena slapped her palm against her forehead.

_Stupid Percy, _she cried inwardly_. Crazy, idiotic daughter for listening to stupid Percy!_

"**Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." **

"You really should leave," Hades said quietly, though he knew that his advice was useless for now.

"So," Hermes asked, "what do you guys think is after them this time?"

"I have a few suggestions," Athena said icily, "but I'm afraid that we're just going to have to wait to find out if my suggestions are correct."

**We ignored him.**

Athena scowled. She could understand if it said '_I_' but as it had said, 'we' that meant that her daughter had also ignored the satyrs warning. _She should be more cautious than this_, she thought to herself,_ didn't all those years in camp teach her anything?_

**The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. **

"_**Bla-ha-ha**_**!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"**

…_Stone statues…uncanny realistic likeness…Medusa…? Well, _Athena groaned_, this isn't going to end well…_

**We stopped at the warehouse door. **

"**Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."**

"**Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him.**

"Listen to the satyr," Poseidon sighed, as he sent a small glare towards Athena. _After all,_ he thought logically,_ her child is supposed to know better than this…_

"**All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?" **

"**Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian." **

"**You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminium cans," I reminded him.**

"**Those are vegetables.**

"Okay," Hermes said, "I might have fallen asleep all those years back in our little 'god and goddess play school' and forgotten to put cheese in the tiny little vegetable column on my work sheet like all the other toddlers might have been doing, but there's no way I would have slept through explanations of metal being a vegetable!"

"What do you mean you may have forgotten to put the cheese in the vegetable column in pre-school?" Athena's eyes went wide at the outrageous statement. "You never forgot anything in that class, and you definitely weren't sleeping throughout it all as you portray it, as you spent nearly all your time copying from me!"

"Ahh," Apollo nodded in understanding as he pointed an accusing finger to a sheepish looking Hermes, "so_ that's_ why you always scored second highest in all our classes in that school…you could have at least woken me up long enough to tell me to do the same!"

"You're just jealous because you were the worst in the class, bro!" Ares shook his head in laughter. "Though," he added in an afterthought, "if metal was actually a vegetable, I'm sure we'd have noticed Apollo fit it somewhere into his food timetable – seeing as he practically lives to eat."

"Hey!"

"But it's true, bro!"

"Besides," Hermes thought about the subject for a moment, "how do you actually know whether something's a fruit or a vegetable?"

"Are you serious!" Demeter almost yelled at him in disbelief of his lack of knowledge. "Well, if it has any seeds in or on it, it's a fruit, of course!"

"But then, what about banana's?" Apollo asked, "as I can't remember a banana having any seeds in or on it?"

"Well it's obviously a vegetable then," Hermes said innocently, as he saw Athena's and Demeter's jaws drop low in disbelief.

"Yeah," Ares agreed, "but what about a peach? I mean, it has a stone inside it – so does that make it a vegetable, fruit or a weird mix of the too?"

"It's-" Demeter tried to explain but was quickly interrupted.

"Dude that's easy," Apollo grinned, "it's obviously a vegruit!"

"Or a fregetable," Ares grinned, though winced as Demeter yelled loudly, as if in pain.

"URGH!"

"Let's just carry on, shall we?" Hades sounded quite scared of Demeter then, probably from the experience of having angered her before. Nevertheless, Dionysus rolled his eyes and read swiftly onwards.

**Come on. Let's leave. These statues are … looking at me." **

"Statues…lifelike…looking…," Poseidon's eyes widened in realisation, "oh my goodness!" He slapped his head harshly with the palm of his hand, "Why didn't I see this coming?"

"Because you're an idiot?" Athena replied sweetly, trying to ease the tension that some of the group were beginning to feel.

However, as the majority continue to laugh at the statement, Chiron's frowned deepened as he too had realised what the trio could be potentially facing. _I hope I've trained them well enough…_

**Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman—at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled.**

"Shouldn't that strike them as just a little weird?" Hera asked. "I mean, it _is_ dark outside."

"Yeah," Hermes nodded understandingly, "but there's also plenty of other wierdo's in the world that makes her seem quite normal."

"Especially because Percy's from New York," Apollo nodded, "as you get a variety of people there. And after fighting all the monsters so far, he's just taking things in his stride."

"Or maybe," Artemis rolled her eyes at the men, "he knows she looks and appears abnormal, but he's letting his stomach guide him too much to care about potential danger…like some people I know…"

**Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-coloured hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.**

"You could say that…" Athena muttered darkly, as more people in the room suddenly put the two together and gasped aloud.

**Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?" **

"**They're … um …" Annabeth started to say.**

Hermes sighed at Chiron, "You know, you really should invest in some stealth, tact and deception lessons when you go back to camp: as some of these campers are useless at it!"

"No way," Athena objected, "you are not teaching my sons and daughters how to lie and thieve!"

"Even though it could help save their lives one day?" Hermes raised an eyebrow at her, but she chose not to answer that.

"**We're orphans," I said. **

"Mmm, better I suppose," Hermes mused, "though it's a bit cliché. But I like that he's going for the pity and sympathy option though – probably the best way to get free food."

"**Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"**

"**We got separated from our caravan," I said. **

"But how can an orphan have a caravan?" Ares shook his head, but Hermes gave him a look.

"There's a lot of reasons actually," he said, defending the boy, "though he'll have to work a lot more on the story to get it to sound believable and tragic."

"Tragic?" Aphrodite questioned.

"Do you want them to get free food or not?"

**"Our circus caravan. **

"Yeah," Hermes smiled, "that's better."

"Though it's a bit far-fetched, isn't it?" Zeus said, as a lot of people nodded in agreement with him.

**The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"**

The room was quiet for a minute before it erupted in laughter.

"That was brilliant!" Apollo laughed.

"That was probably the stupidest story I have ever heard!" Athena said, laughing along as well.

"Haha," Demeter smiled, "he just had to get the food part in somewhere, didn't he?"

"**Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."**

"How many clues does it take for them to get it?" Hephaestus asked in general, "Aunty Em, statues…I mean, come on!"

"Don't worry too much," Athena tried to sound confidant, "my daughter – if she hasn't already of course – will notice soon enough and will save the day."

No one had an answer to that, so they just continued to read the book.

**We thanked her and went inside.**

**Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?" **

"**Always have a strategy, right?" **

"Always have a _good_ strategy," Ares scoffed as he mimicked Athena, who simply glared at him.

"**Your head is full of kelp."**

"What an interesting comeback," Dionysus commented.

"Like father like son, right?" Athena teased Poseidon, who at the moment was too worried over the fate of his son to pay her any attention.

**The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size. But mostly, I was thinking about food.**

"Typical." Artemis sighed, shaking her head as most of the males in the room glared at her.

"But it is!" Aphrodite laughed at them as Dionysus read onwards.

**Go ahead, call me an idiot for waling into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry,**

"You're an idiot." chorused everyone but Poseidon and Hestia, who gave each other a tired smile, as if they thought the same thing but were too nice and loyal to say it out loud.

**but I do impulsive stuff sometimes.**

"What do you mean, sometimes?" Hera rolled her eyes, "More like always."

"But that's what makes him who he is," Apollo smiled, "and though it may have put him in danger once or twice, it's managed to save him plenty of times too!"

**Plus, you've never smelled Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like laughing gas in the dentist's chair—it made everything else go away.**

**I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us.**

"Most people, even mortals, would be high-tailing it out of there by now." Zeus said.

"I blame you." Athena said to Poseidon, who didn't reply. He knew it was his fault.

_Though I hope he comes out of this fine…_

**All I cared about was finding the dining area. And sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser.** **Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.**

"So that Grover can get all his vegetables," Hermes stage whispered to Apollo, as Demeter glared at the pair.

Apollo groaned in longing, "How much more pages are there?" he asked Dionysus impatiently, "as reading all this sure is making me hungry!"

"We've got a bit to go yet," Dionysus yawned, "so you'll either just have to wait for about another half an hour, or just conjure food to you now."

"Here you go," Ares gave him some nacho's and pretzels quickly, not wanting to get into the whole "I can conjure everything else except food" argument again.

"**Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.**

"At least she's polite," Hera said, but as someone was about to interrupt her with what was most probably going to be a comment of objection, she carried on with what she was going to say, "too bad it'll be worthless when she starts trying to kill them all."

At that, everyone settled back down happily, glad to see that she was quickly getting her priorities back in order.

"**Awesome," I said. **

"Not awesome!" Poseidon said, as the room couldn't help but snicker at hearing the layed back sea god trying to scold a book.

"Why don't they just listen to the Satyr for once?" Hades sighed, as he said what Zeus had automatically thought, but would never _ever _voice out loud. "Seeing that he's the only one that's thinking reasonably here?"

"Who knows," Demeter sighed, "perhaps they're so used with him being scared of everything that they're automatically ignoring him now – thinking that he's just nervous or freaked out by the statues. So I think that, if I were him, I'd want an apology for them not listening to me in the first place."

"**Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."**

**Before I could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."**

"**Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.**

**Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done some thing wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I figured it must've been my imagination.**

"When is he going to realized that _nothing_ is just his imagination?" Hephaestus asked tiredly.

"The world may never know…" Dionysus said vaguely, "maybe in the next book, or two…or twelve…"

"He'll be fine after he has some experience," Chiron said confidently, "where he'll just learn not only to react automatically to the things that will come towards him, but to act before too."

"One can only hope," Dionysus sighed in feigned boredom as he started reading the book.

_I hope they won't notice that I accidentally spilled some diet coke on some of the pages though…_

"**Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."**

"So she now knows Annabeth is my daughter," Athena frowned as she tried to anticipate the attack that would surely come in this chapter.

"Yeah," Hermes sighed, "maybe we should make them all wear sunglasses or something to help prevent this – where at worst it'll buy them some time…?"

Athena noted on her list: something that'll help conceal a demigod's identity during a quest and living at home. In brackets she added 'especially the main features, like the eyes and hair.'

**Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves.**

"Urgh!" Athena growled, "if he notices these things enough to write about them, then why can't he act on them?"

"Maybe he brushed it off as her overhearing them talking?" Hades suggested, though doubted it, as he couldn't remember them addressing her by her name either.

"Hrm, maybe," Athena said at last, though she didn't seem convinced.

"At least," Hades continued, "he does notice these things happening around him: where he'll soon learn from experience to act upon them in advance and not to react to them when the monster is attacking them."

"Yeah, I mean," Ares said, "because he can notice all these things, you can tell he's going to be an awesome hero in the future because of it. Though personally, I wish he'd grow some balls to fight more often…"

"Please," Persephone retaliated, "if Percy does that, I'm sure Poseidon's heart will fail long before we reach the end of the last book."

**Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.**

"Look, I know that she's a monster and everything," Hermes said, "but that does sound absolutely amazing!"

The other gods nodded their heads in approval as Apollo dribbled a whole punch and the goddesses shook their heads in exasperation and amusement.

"For all you know," Aphrodite said, "she could have drugged or poisoned them!"

The guys stopped to think about this for a moment, as their looks of hunger and longing turned back into wariness and worry.

**I was halfway through my burger before I remembered to breathe.**

"They weren't _that_ hungry…were they?" Hestia asked as she thought about it. "I mean, it hasn't been _that_ long ago since they last ate, has it?"

"That's true," Athena speculated, "she could have sent out an enchantment to lure demigods, humans and weak monsters to the place with the promise of food."

"Yeah," Poseidon agreed with her, "as she did love cooking so much in the olden days after all."

Everyone continued to shoot him weird looks after that.

"How do you-" Hermes started with a smile forming on his face, but Artemis cut him off.

"The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach after all," she said quietly, but as she didn't elaborate Dionysus took it as a sign to continue.

**Annabeth slurped her shake. **

**Grover picked the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat. **

"**What's that hissing noise?" he asked. **

Everyone, who hadn't already figured out what was going on, widened their eyes at this.

"But that's –"

"Medusa," Athena said grumpily, "we _know_!"

"Seriously though," Hephaestus sighed, "if they haven't figured it out before, this should really do the job."

"But don't forget," Apollo joked, "Percy's with them."

Everyone instantly relaxed at this, whereupon Poseidon turned to glare at them all.

"He's not that bad," he objected loudly, though he could hear a couple of 'yeah, right's' being whispered somewhere, so he just huffed in fury.

**I listened, but didn't hear anything. Annabeth shook her head. **

"**Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover." **

"**I take vitamins. For my ears." **

"What a cover-up." Dionysus said, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Demeter defended him, "some people do, you know!"

"Not very many," Ares counteracted as Demeter simply shrugged.

"**That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax." **

"Like that's going to happen anytime soon," Hephaestus said, as some people nodded in agreement.

**Aunt Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her head dress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling satisfied after the burger, and a little sleepy, and I figured the least I could do was try to make small talk with our hostess.**

"**So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested. **

"**Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know." **

"**A lot of business on this road?" **

"Yes," Hera urged him, "pick up on the abnormality."

"**Not so much, no. Since the highway was built… most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."**

"By turning them into statues to sell to creepy statue collectors?" Artemis said, "_Really?"_

"Our dictionary must be a lot different from hers then," Hermes said, "As I always believed that cherished meant something entirely different!"

"No, no," Apollo grinned, "her dictionary's the right one. So, I guess since I cherish you, bro," he smiled at Hermes, "then I guess I'll have to do the same thing…"

"You dare," Hermes suddenly turned pale and looked extremely worried as he saw Apollo rise out of his chair and walk towards him. However, as he himself was about to make a run for it, Hera raised her voice.

"Boys, boys!" she called in amusement, "sit back down and behave yourself when we're reading!"

"Thank you, mom!" Hermes called to her gratefully, only now noticing how wonderful her voice actually sounded.

"Yes," she smiled as she remembered all of the pranks that the two of them had pulled on her in the past, and hastened to add, "as I said, we'll have no messing around in this room whilst we read these books, so you should deal with these little issues of yours in the small breaks that we allow."

Apollo's eyes suddenly sparkled once more, as he turned to a defeated looking Hermes, "Yes mother," he grinned as Hermes slumped in his seat in defeat, "we'll do just that, won't we brother?"

"You can try," Hermes warned him, as he tried to think of defence strategies to ward off the attack as Dionysus started reading once more.

**My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket.**

"Oh my," Artemis frowned, feeling sad for the little girl, who she imagined looked so innocent and helpless, "the poor child."

**The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues.**

"This is no ordinary garden statue…" Chiron muttered, as everyone rolled their eyes.

"What would you do," Hephaestus asked Poseidon suddenly, "if Percy did the unexpected thing and bought a statue to take home with him?"

"I'd like to think," the sea god answered, "that I'd sit him down and tell him patiently that he couldn't have one and to chose something less freaky."

"But," Aphrodite asked and Poseidon smiled despite himself.

"I'd probably do a Zeus and blow the statue up into a million little pieces."

Everyone snickered at that, as Poseidon smiled innocently up to his brother.

"You know I'll get you back for that, don't you?" he mused at his older brother.

"I know you'll _try_ to get me back for that," Poseidon corrected him cheekily, which sent the room once again into a fit of giggles, where Zeus sighed once in attempt to keep his temper and to see the funny side of the statement for once – but gods, his brother was so annoying!

**But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled, or even terrified. **

"Well, who wouldn't be," Persephone stated, "in front of Medusa's actual from with no idea of what she actually was."

"**Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."**

"**You make these statues yourself?" I asked.**

"**Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone.**

"Oh, surely Annabeth will get it now…" Athena pleaded desperately, but all she was greeted with was sympathetic looks.

**I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company."**

"Well, living people are good company…" Hera said.

"Except," Zeus reminded her, "that it's hard for her to have a friend without said friend turning to stone?"

"She could always use the internet to talk to them," Hera stated reasonably, "as there are loads of people looking for friendship on that. Or she could use letters, emails, phones, mobile phones, tin cans with pieces of string…"

"Yes, yes," Demeter sighed, "I think we get the message."

"I'm just trying to make the point," Hera glared at her, "that she can't use loneliness as a defence to kill innocent people, as there are other ways to make and keep friends to prevent her from feeling lonely."

"Maybe we should take to a counsellor," Persephone suggested, "it might help her to sort out her loneliness issue and to help her get over what was done to her."

"Mmm," Hades mused, "somehow love, I don't think that Medusa would be up for that."

"Yeah," Zeus sighed, "she now loves her job too much to be able to quit."

"Workaholics," Dionysus sighed once in sheer disgust, before returning to the book, as he could never understand their crazy behaviour and tendencies to, well, work!

**The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.**

"Please," Athena scoffed, "she's trying to kill you!"

**Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"**

"And she gets it," Dionysus interrupted himself briefly, as Athena calmed down and tried not to glare at him.

"About time," Zeus agreed, as the others relaxed somewhat, knowing that their children now had a chance at survival.

"Yes," Demeter nodded, "now they can finally do something about the situation rather than sitting back oblivious to it."

"**It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. **

"No, it's really not," Hermes agreed, "especially seeing as this whole mess started with se-"

"Hermes," Artemis warned as she reached for her bow.

"-xy people, of course," he finished, "like Uncle P here! Am I right? People?"

"Too far," Ares looked at him in disgust.

"Fail," Apollo grinned at him sympathetically at the same time, as Poseidon merely looked amused and even somewhat pleased at the statement.

At seeing Poseidon's change of facial expressions though, Apollo grinned suggestively at the rest of the group, "Well," he said, "we all know who just made the top of Uncle's Christmas card list!"

"But," Demeter just stared at him, "do we even celebrate Christmas? Seeing as Christianity actually started-"

"Plus," Ares frowned, "how would Uncle even be able to write Christmas cards underwater without them turning to a mushy mess-"

"-Mushy mess?" Hermes interrupted, as he turned to Apollo, "try saying that ten times fast!"

"Look," Demeter tried to continue, "the point is-"

"-that we're wasting valuable break time," Zeus suggested casually, though there was a dark power stirring behind his eyes, "going off on random subjects while we should be reading the book to learn of our children's future fates?"

Everyone shut up after that.

"Thank you…"

**You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, **

"I was _not!_" Athena yelled, glaring at the book and Poseidon in turn. "You disrespected me and befouled my temple!"

"It was during my youth!" Poseidon protested at the turn of events, "I couldn't control my hormones!"

"Um, brother," Zeus pulled him to the side to whisper in his ear. "I don't think that was the best excuse that you could have thought up, seeing that you – as did I – have sired children even after the oath was made: a clear indication that you still haven't got your hormones under control and that you are still indeed a wild and rampart teenager at heart."

Although Athena heard none of this, when Poseidon next met her eyes, they glowed with knowledge and triumph of some sort, whereupon she nodded deeply and clearly.

**long ago, when I was young.**

**I had a… a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart.**

"Oh, of course, because I am _sooo_ interested in Poseidon's love life and I want him all to myself." Athena scoffed, as she too turned to childish behaviour and started rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm glad you finally admitted it," Hephaestus smirked with unusual confidence, "as we've been silently betting on you guys for a while trying to see when you were actually going to swallow your pride and differences and make out."

Athena glared towards him, as the others looked shocked and pleasantly surprised that he had the guts to say something that even they could not. Poseidon even didn't scowl at him so much in retaliation, therefore, Mr D took this as a sign that all was well enough to continue the chapter.

**She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."**

Poseidon put his head in his hands, if anything happened to Percy because of Medusa, it was all his fault. Hestia put a comforting hand on Poseidon's shoulder, reassuring him that everything would be okay.

"It will," she insisted, "don't be so worried all the time! Why, just think about this reading as a way of devising a well organised training plan for the boy when he gets to camp – so that he knows what he has to improve and be more alert to…"

**I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her.**

**My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy. Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?**

Athena scowled at the word 'nice,' as the others were grinning, at the boy's naive reaction.

_Boy_, Apollo spoke to Hermes, _he's sure in for one hell of a wakeup call soon, isn't he?_

_Yup_, Hermes agreed, _though I wish one of us were that dense, as then we could use it as blackmail or something for a while…_

_We could try to trick Ares? _Apollo suggested_, though it won't be as fun, as he's easy to trick._

_Yeah, _Hermes smiled,_ so we'll just have to aim for some one like Demeter, who always has their guard up when she sees us walking._

_Much more satisfying target_, Apollo laughed once more, before they turned their attention back towards the book.

"**Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting."**

"That's not going to work." Demeter said sadly.

"Yeah," Persephone sighed, "_way _too late for that guys…"

"They'll be fine," Hephaestus told the group, "as I still think it's too early on in the series for a major character to die."

As Dionysus was about to reply a 'you never know ' style comment, one look from Hera had him quickly reading onwards.

**She sounded tense.**

**I wasn't sure why. Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything.**

"**Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."**

**She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek,** **but Annabeth stood up abruptly.**

"Good," Athena nodded, "now form a plan and get out of there!"

"This minute," Poseidon agreed from across the room.

"**We really should go." **

"You should never have gone," Zeus criticized them, though he added a meek, "even though the food sounded terrific…"

"AH-HAH!" Artemis said accusingly, though the others just carried on with the reading, as a little more of the room's tension was suddenly no more.

"**Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"**

**I didn't want to leave. I felt full and content. Aunty Em was so nice. I wanted to stay with her a while.**

Poseidon suddenly cursed at his son's generosity.

_Stupid fatal flaw!_

"**Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"**

"A pose?" Athena 's eyebrows were risen high.

"Yeah, a pose," Ares nodded, "you know," he mimed taking a photo of her, "with a camera?"

"I know what it means!" she snapped at him irritably, "but she's going to try to use this rouse to turn them into garden decorations!"

"Aaaaah."

"**A pose?" Annabeth asked warily. **

A few of the gods smiled at the resemblance between Annabeth and Athena, but for the most part, the atmosphere in the room was still tense; with everyone anxious to hear what happened.

"**A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."**

**Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"**

"**Sure we can," I said.**

Athena groaned and face-palmed. "Idiot," she murmured, as the others either agreed or snickered. "You wait until these books are over and then I'll come and talk some sense into you!"

"Somehow," Demeter whispered, "I don't think that'll do much good."

"Especially since he's inherited his father's stubbornness and rebellious nature," Zeus sighed as Poseidon grinned sheepishly, "where he's now almost unable to follow orders."

**I was irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy, so rude to an old lady who'd just fed us for free. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"**

"Famous last words," Dionysus commentated before turning his attention back to the books.

"**Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm." **

**I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out to the front door, into the garden of statues.** **Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."**

"**Not much light for a photo," I remarked.**

"Hint…" Hermes said.

"-hint," Apollo said in unison, as they waited for him to understand.

"**Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"**

"**Where's your camera?" Grover asked.**

"Another hint," Hermes said, "where my children's suspicious minds could have easily put two and two together here…"

**Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"**

**Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."**

"Another-"Apollo was about to state, when Artemis interrupted him

"These hints started a long, long, LONG time ago," she sighed to her brother, "so if he was ever going to get it- he would have gotten it long before now."

"**Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear." **

**She still had no camera in her hands.**

"Really?" Hephaestus stared at the book, "if she wants to make this as convincible as possible, shouldn't she have a camera in her hands when she tries to kill them – or at least one of those standy uppy camera's so she'd have her arms free to remove the thing that's covering her eyes?"

"Do you want my child to die?" Poseidon glared at him darkly.

"No," Hephaestus answered calmly, "I'm just saying that it would've been more convincing if she'd actually done that."

"**Percy—" Annabeth said.**

**Some instinct warned me to listen to Annabeth,** **but I was fighting the sleepy feeling, the comfortable lull that came from the food and the old lady's voice.**

"**I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil…"**

"**Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted. **

"**Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"**

"**That **_**is**_** Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.**

"**Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted.**

"Finally!" chorused the room, thankful that the kids realized the danger.

"And the action starts," Ares yelled joyfully, as the others could only look at him in dishust. "What?"

"I though that you were working on being a nicer person?" Persephone frowned at him.

"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed her, "after this now…"

"Urgh!"

**She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and me both off the bench.** **I was on the ground, looking at Aunty Em's sandaled feet.**

**I could hear Grover scrambling off in one direction, Annabeth in another. But I was too dazed to move.**

"Foolish boy," Athena commented, as Poseidon didn't know what to say.

"I still can't believe that he hasn't worked it out though," Demeter started to say, but Hestia interrupted her.

"But you should still take into consideration that he hasn't realised his heritage for as long as the others have," she told them, "therefore he's automatically going to notice things less quickly than the others and will react to them later as well. After all, the boy can't help having such little experience in the world that they live in…"

**Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails. **

**I almost looked higher, but somewhere off to my left Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!"**

"Oh, Styx! That was a close one…" Poseidon said.

"Well," Athena stated reluctantly, "I guess that because your son saved my daughter she felt like she owed him a favour," Athena said simply, as the others turned to look at her.

"They are part of a team," Hera said cautiously, "so it's expected for each member to help the others out in these types of situations."

"True," she retaliated, "though I hope she doesn't endanger herself one day by helping him out too much."

Before Poseidon could even begin to react to the goddesses prideful words, Zeus hastily signalled to Dionysus to read on – as they clearly didn't need a sudden fight to spring up between these two individuals at this precise moment!

**More rasping—the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from… from about where Aunty Em's head would be.**

"**Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "**_**Maia**_**!"**

"Maia!" Hermes said, preventing his shoes from taking flight.

"I'll fix that for you," Hephaestus replied solemnly to him, "just as soon as I've finished with designing and making new armour and gadgets for the children."

"There's no rush," Hermes said hastily, "whenever you have time! And if you need me to get you anything from somewhere, someone or something about the armour and gadgets, just let me know and I'll be happy to help!"

Hephaestus suddenly gave a warm smile at that. "Thanks," he said at last, with a bit more feeling in his voice than what was there before, "will do!"

**to kick-start his flying sneakers.**

**I couldn't move. I stared at Aunty Em's gnarled claws, and tried to fight the groggy trance the old woman had put me in. **

"Fight it!" Ares yelled, while everyone else was too wrapped up in the content to comment much.

"**Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she told me soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."**

**I fought the urge to obey. Instead I looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens— a gazing ball.I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents.**

**Aunty Em.**

**Aunty "M."**

**How could I have been so stupid?**

"Don't say anything," Poseidon told Athena who rolled her eyes.

"At least he admits it," she smiled sweetly at him as Poseidon scowled at her.

**Think, I told myself. How did Medusa die in the myth?**

"Well," Athena started to explain, but Ares wouldn't have any of it.

"We don't need an explanation for everything!" he yelled, "and besides, it's better and much more interesting if he invents a new and cooler way!"

"Better for whom?" Poseidon frowned at the war god.

"For us reading of course," Ares grinned, "and for him to brag about the story when he gets back to camp!"

"Though," Hestia said quietly, "I'd much rather that he'd kill her in the safest way possible for him to be able to get back to camp in one piece…"

**But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus. She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face.**

"Oh, don't worry about that," Hermes tried to comfort him, "you look far too much like your father for her to even think of damaging your pretty face."

"Yeah," Artemis replied sarcastically, "she only wants to turn you into a statue for all eternity so that she can admire your beauty: you won't feel a thing."

Poseidon grimaced.

"**They Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."**

"**Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, some where in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"**

"**Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."**

"So," Apollo interrupted, "does it hurt when you get turned into a statue or what? I mean, I know it's instantaneous, but it's got to hurt to have all the molecules in your body harden and turn to stone, hasn't it?"

"Well," Athena told him, "I could turn you into a statue so that you can find out for yourself…?"

"No," Apollo hastily declined as he started waving his hands around, "that won't be necessary."

"I reckon it's going to be like the Avada Kedavra curse in the Harry Potter books-"

"-The what?" a few people called out, which almost sent Persephone into shock.

"Harry Potter?" she tried again, "by J.K Rowling's? Anything?"

As she looked around and still saw some people looking at her in confusion she sighed tiredly, "well, look it up! Anyway, my point is that in these books there's a type of spell to be had called the killing curse, where anyone who gets hit by it – except the boy wonder of course – dies instantly, so they don't have time to feel pain."

"So in reality," Dionysus said, "that this is the nicest death that we can expect the heroes to have?"

"Yup," a few people nodded in agreement as Poseidon grimaced.

"But," Ares said after a moment, "is being turned into a statue the same thing as being killed though? I mean, you could always try to find a way to turn them back into people couldn't you, like Thalia's tree?"

Athena looked thoughtful at that for a time, before shaking her head. "No, I believe turning into a statue is the same thing as being killed, because if you get turned into stone, everything in your body stops working (like your lungs and heart), and after a few moments like that, you would be dead. that's why us Olympians always tend to turn people into something living, like a tree or a dolphin, as that way we're able to keep them alive for our own reasons and purposes."

"Riiiight," Ares nodded, "cool."

Hermes and Hephaestus raised their chins in question to his last statement, as Dionysus continued to read onwards.

"**No," I muttered. I tried to make my legs move.**

"**Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."**

"**Percy!" Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled, "Duck!"**

**I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.**

Everyone, except Poseidon, chuckled as they pictured the scene in their heads. Poseidon was begging to himself that Percy would get out of this okay.

"**Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!" **

"I don't know if that's a good idea…" Demeter pictured the scene worriedly, as the others continued to chuckle.

**That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me.**

"Wait a second," Hades couldn't believe it, "after everything that he's seen and heard since he entered this place, he finally reacts to the situation because he's scared Grover was going to hit him?"

"Someone needs to get his priorities in order I reckon," Hera stated, as the rest nodded.

"Though," Hermes spoke quietly to Apollo, "I'd wished he'd have accidentally hit him at least once!"

**I dove to one side.**

_**Thwack!**_

The others jumped a little in their seats from all the tension.

"You know," Dionysus smirked, "I could really use a good relaxing session after these books are done, don't you?"

"Just read," Zeus sighed at him, too tired to argue much at the moment.

**At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage.**

"Okay," Artemis nodded in approval as Zeus and Dionysus rolled their eyes in denial and pride, "he actually hit her: good for him!"

"**You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"**

"Now she's losing her temper and getting as you people say 'cocky'," Athena gave a small smile. "It will surely be her downfall."

"**That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back. **

The females of the room cooed at this image, as they were pleasantly surprised and happy at seeing this side of the Satyr. As random small talk and laughter at the display broke out, Demeter was even sure that she saw Zeus smile softly to himself once or twice.

_It won't be long now_, she smirked, _until I win the bet and will have to hear no more arguing between the three brothers: sheer joy!_

**I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass.**

_**Ker-whack!**_

"He's definitely gotten braver alright," Ares even nodded in approval of his actions.

"Yes," Hephaestus had to agree at that, "though it makes you wonder what the other two will have planned…"

"**Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.**

"I know exactly how you feel," Ares nodded solemly, feeling a little sympathetic for her, as he remembered the anger, rage and the humiliation of having been beaten by a Satyr.

"Extremely pissed off?" Athena smirked at the trio, as their face flushed in embarrassment.

"Yup," Hermes said vaguely, "along with other things…"

**Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!"**

**I jumped so high my feet nearly cleared a garden gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!"**

**Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. "You have to cut her head off."**

"Nice," Aphrodite shuddered, "really…nice."

"All in a demigod's days work," Dionysus reprimanded her, as he continued once more to read.

"**What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."**

"Yes," Chiron reasoned, "but you should never turn your back on your opponent-"

"-and always slay them when you have a chance," Ares nodded in agreement.

"Besides," Apollo said, "it's three against one, so they should have no problem!"

"Actually, I think it should be two and a half against one, as you can't really count a Satyr as a fighter," Hermes said, as Zeus cut in.

"It doesn't matter if it's three, two and a half or half a dozen: the fact is that it's against someone that can turn you to stone with one look."

"So," Ares summed it up, "its two and a half blind young warriors against an ancient monster…easy win!"

As Ares smirked he failed to notice everyone fidget nervously at his statement.

"**Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but…" Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You—you've got a chance."**

Poseidon actually smiled warmly at those words, as he knew how difficult they were to say – especially being the child of Athena – where his liking for the girl suddenly increased.

"**What? I can't—"**

"**Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"**

**She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster.**

"The guilt trip," Aphrodite sighed, feeling suddenly depressed about the couples fate, and immensely wished she could do more to help these people from danger.

"There's no way he's turning back now," Demeter fretted, as Artemis nodded her approval of the boy's noble actions.

**Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better." She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of—"**

"Oh, geez!" Apollo instantly complained, "you had a good idea fair enough-"

"-but please-" Hermes spoke with Apollo in unison, both knowing what the other was about to say.

"-pretty please-"

"-go back to speaking English!"

"**Would you speak English?"**

Athena now scowled and rolled her eyes at the book as the others chuckled.

"Awesome!" Apollo grinned, "Percy thinks like us!"

"Or do we think like Percy?" Hermes added as an after thought.

"Nah," they both said suddenly, "Percy thinks like us!"

"**I **_**am!**_**" She tossed me the glass ball.**

"He meant talk normal so people can actually understand what the hell you're saying," Ares said as Athena turned to him.

"It is normal for us!" she protested, sick of being looked down upon by the others for her abilities.

"But what's normal to you is abnormal for the rest of us," Hades pointed out nicely, where the wisdom goddess began to pout.

"**Just look at her in the glass. **_**Never**_** look at her directly."**

"**Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"**

"That's doubtful," Dionysus said, "you're not strong enough for that."

"_**Roooaaarrr!**_**"**

"See?"

"**Maybe not," Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch.**

"**Hurry," Annabeth told me. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."**

**I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in my hand.** **I followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair.** **I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa's reflection, not the real thing. Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her.**

**Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!" **

**Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!"**

**I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged, I'd have a hard time defending myself.**

**But she let me approach—twenty feet, ten feet.**

Poseidon held his breath, as did the others at this climatic scene, wondering exactly what will happen in the next few moments…

**I could see the reflection of her face now.** **Surely it wasn't really **_**that**_** ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse.**

"**You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."**

**I hesitated, fascinated by the face I saw reflected in the glass—the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making my arms go weak.**

"Don't you dare freeze up!" Ares warned him quickly, "I've been waiting for this the whole chapter!"

"ARES!"

"Fine, fine," he sighed, "I'll try to behave myself…"

**From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"**

**Medusa cackled. "Too late."**

**She lunged at me with her talons.**

"Talons," Poseidon sighed, why did Percy always have to be attacked with talons?

**I slashed up with my sword, heard a sickening **_**shlock!**_**, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern—the sound of a monster disintegrating.**

Poseidon took a deep breath, relieved.

"Have you been holding your breath this entire time?" Hestia asked him. Poseidon nodded.

"Well," Ares frowned, "that was a bit anti-climatic."

"Anti-climatic?" Hestia questioned his sanity, "I'm sure a lot of us was close to having heart attacks!"

"Yeah, Uncle," Apollo went to hug him, "you okay?"

"I am now," he smiled, feeling suddenly more confident about his son's fighting abilities and chances of survival.

**Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my willpower not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoelaces.**

"That's a little disturbing," Hera covered her mouth with her hands, where some of the goddesses turned green at the thought.

"**Oh, yuck," Grover said. **

"You said it," Aphrodite agreed, "I think I'm going to be sick!"

"I'm right there with you," Persephone moaned, as most of the male gods watched them in amusement.

"You know," Zeus frowned, "I don't know why you're acting like this – it's not like you saw it or anything…"

"Persephone's always had an over-reactive imagination," Demeter explained, "why, when she was a little girl she-"

"Read on," Hades said quickly to Dionysus, as he'd heard this story a couple hundred times a year when the two of them had gotten into an argument –yet again- about her daughter and his wife.

**His eyes were still tightly closed, but I guess he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck."**

**Annabeth came up next to me, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move." **

**Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. **

"Good," Athena nodded approvingly, as the others wondered what on earth the young demigod was going to do with the head.

**It was still dripping green juice.**

Aphrodite grimaced.

"He had to mention that last little detail," Persephone sighed to her husband. "Hand me a bucket will you, as I think I'm going to be sick!"

"**Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling.**

"**Yeah," I decided, though I felt like throwing up my double cheeseburger. "Why didn't… why didn't the head evaporate?" **

"It's a spoil of war, duh!" Ares rolled his eyes.

"But he doesn't know that," Hermes retaliated by playfully hitting him over the head, "duh!"

"**Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."**

**Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying around aimlessly around his head.**

"**The Red Baron," I said. "Good job, man."**

"Yes," Demeter smiled proudly, "a really good job! Wouldn't you agree, Zeus?"

The king of gods chose not to respond to this, so Dionysus just continued to read again.

**He managed a bashful grin. "That really was **_**not**_** fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? **_**Not**_** fun."**

**He snatched his shoes out of the air. I recapped my sword. Together, the three of us stumbled back to the warehouse. We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head.** **We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak. **

**Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"**

Athena growled and glared at the book.

"He just had to say that, didn't he?" Hera almost slapped her hand against her forehead.

"Yup," Hermes grinned, "he_ is_ Percy, after all."

**Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "You dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend.**

"Worst mistake of my existence." Poseidon shook his head.

"Ever," Athena shook her head at his actions, "it was immature, selfish and thoughtless to everyone but yourself."

"And I'm sorry for it," Poseidon sighed, "so can we just please move on from this issue!"

**They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."**

**My face was burning. "Oh, so now it's **_**my**_** fault we met Medusa." **

"Technically," Hephaestus had to nod at that, "seeing as you were so determined to have food."

"Ah," Hades responded, "but it was Annabeth who ignored the Satyr's warning, so in truth, they are both to blame."

**Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'"**

"I can see that that line's going to be held against him now for all eternity, isn't it?" Poseidon smiled, as even he had to admit that it was a little –a lot - funny now that the danger was out of the way.

"**Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."**

"Yup," he grinned, "and proud to be too!"

"It does make life here a lot more interesting with you around, Uncle P," Apollo said as Hermes backed him up with nods and agreements, "but we hardly see you as you spend nearly all you're time away!"

"Maybe this year," Hermes tried, "you should try to spend more time up here with us?"

"At least then," Apollo grinned encouragingly, "you'll know more about what's going on as well as helping us wind everyone else up with our…," one look at Zeus' stern face had him freezing in place, "uh, never mind!"

"Yeah," Hermes said, "we can discuss the details later-"

"-but would you fancy it?"

Poseidon had to smile at their eagerness.

"I'll see what I can do," he said vaguely, but his eyes held a different message. _We'll talk more about this later, he promised them, when there are less eyes and ears to hear our future plans…_

Apollo and Hermes openly showed a look of disappointment at Poseidon's negative tone, but secretly they were thrilled.

_This is going to be so awesome,_ Apollo grinned.

_They'll never know what hit them…_

"**You're insufferable."**

"She's actually pretty cool though," everyone had to agree with Ares' words, "if only she'll lose the attiude and Percy'll lose his cluelessness- they'd make a great team!"

"Plus a cute couple," Aphrodite had to say, were everyone rolled their eyes at that.

"But it's true!" she tried to protest, but the room was mostly focused on the break they knew that was coming soon – as this had been quite a long chapter where everyone was feeling a little moody now from being cooped up for so long…

"**You're—"**

"Aw, give it a rest," Dionysus sighed at their childishness. "Isn't it enough that I have to be around this type of talk all day everyday without having to listen to it now?"

He quickly read on to avoid confrontation at that.

"**Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even **_**get**_** migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"**

"Oh," Athena realized. "I didn't think about that…"

"This is a first!" Dionysus exclaimed. Athena glared at him.

**I stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!**

**I was angry, not just with Annabeth or her mom, but with all the gods for this whole quest,**

"But what did I do?" everyone asked innocently while glaring at the two gods in front.

"I hope you're happy now," Apollo sulked at them, "you're giving the rest of us a bad name."

**for getting us blown off the road and in two major fights the very first day out from camp.**

"Not a good start I must admit," Zeus gulped, "but I'm sure it'll get much better!"

"And if it doesn't," Hades said, "I'm sure the both of us would stop picking on you at the end of this book, if you actually find the lightning bolt-"

"-and found out exactly why you're in a grumpy mood," Zeus prompted.

"-everything will all be fiiiiiine…"

_So Poseidon doesn't kill us…_

**At this rate, we'd never make it to L.A. alive, much less before the summer solstice.**

**What had Medusa said?**

_**Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue.**_

**I got up. "I'll be back." **

"I wonder what he's doing now," Athena's eyes narrowed in suspicion, not liking where his thoughts were going.

"**Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you—"**

**I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden.**

Everyone could only stare at the couple in silent accusation.

"Look," Hades held up his hands, "we didn't know it was Medusa we were buying the things from…"

"Yeah, I mean," Persephone defended her husband, "we first saw her work at this yearly convention in Cyprus about five years, where we thought they were just what we were looking for to decorate the garden – you know, some beautiful garden maiden's, happy smiling children and such, so we thought we'd order about five or six a year- and I guess we still do in the future."

"But wouldn't you have recognised Medusa in person?" Athena questioned them sceptically.

"No," Hades denied, "because it was a very public event she sent her assistant to all her conventions to try to sell the statues for her, and to quiz people on what type of statues people would like so that she could try to specialise in that category –though she was displayed as an all rounder with a lover for gothic horror-"

"-which now we realise was a ruse to try to excuse the statue's frightened expressions," Persephone said, "geez weren't we idiots!"

"You said it," Artemis shook her head at the couple, but as she found the story acceptable, she found no reason to linger further on the point. "Now let us return to the book to see what Percy is up too…"

**According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.**

"I'm surprised," Athena said. "That was very intuitive."

"Good work," Hera even applauded him, "especially as I did not think of doing that myself!"

"It's like," Hermes tried to describe him, "he's not book smart, but he's still smart, if you know what I mean?"

"You mean a kinetic thinker?" Athena questioned him.

"That's the one!" Hermes smiled, as Athena beamed at him.

Apollo meanwhile looked at Hermes in confusion. _What does that mean?_

_I don't know,_ Hermes replied, still smiling at Athena, _but play along won't you – you don't want to look dumb all the time, now don't we?_

_Oi!_

**In the cash register **

"Another good move," Demeter congratulated him, "gathering up what supplies he could het his hands on…"

"Though," Apollo sighed in longing, "the first thing I'd do if I were him was to get another double cheese burger."

"But," Athena raised her eyebrows, "for all you know, the food could've been drugged to make them sleepy or worse!"

"So?" Apollo retaliated, "there are no monsters here now, and they could use a good nap."

"But what if the beacon that was calling powerful beings to the place was still on?" Hephaestus asked the sun god, who then paled.

"Right," he gave in at last, "didn't think about that."

"Obviously," Athena half smiled at him, as she was rather starting to warm up to Apollo now.

**I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with little leather bag attached for coins. I rummaged around the rest of the office until I found the right-size box.**

**I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, **

"No," Athena gasped in realisation at what was doing on, where she was fighting the unfamiliar urge to laugh at the boy's actions.

**and filled out a delivery slip:**

_**The Gods**_

_**Mount Olympus**_

_**600th Floor,**_

_**Empire State Building**_

_**New York, NY**_

_**With best wishes,**_

_**PERCY JACKSON**_

"…"

Complete silence swamped the room.

"He didn't…," Apollo's face shone with awe, "not even uncle P would have the guts to do that…"

"Wow," was all Hermes could say. _We could sure take pointers from this kid!_

_He's awesome,_ Apollo agreed silently, feeling rather giddy.

Meanwhile, the older gods looked upon the seen in worry of the level of resentment that Percy was showing and it's connections to the prophecy, were each individual had quickly began to realise that through the neglection of the children, their whole way of life was in danger…

"**They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."**

"He is impertinent," Zeus dismissed the Satyr, not wanting to get worked up about something like this again, just like his dad."

**I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a **_**pop!**_

"**I am impertinent," I said.**

**I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize. **

**She didn't. she seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods.**

"I agree." Everyone said as they chuckled briefly.

"Though," Poseidon had to say, "I hope no one else turns against him- even though I figure some of you will…"

"Even if we do in that time," Hermes said simply, "we'll do our best not to do so this time."

"**Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."**

"That's my girl," Athena smiled proudly. "Always, always have a plan."

"And that's the end of that chapter," Dionysus yawned closing the book, "now can we go?"

"Yes, yes," Zeus sighed, "though remember to be back in an hour!"

"Done deal," the wine god muttered, saying something about going back to bed.

"So," Apollo turned to Hermes as everyone else was walking away," what do you want to do next?"

_**(A.N. And there's the chapter –hope you like it and I'll see you guys soon. Remember to review or PM me if you want to ask, tell, advise me on anything)**_

_**T.T.F.N.**_


	17. Poodle Love

Chapter 17 =Poodle Love

"What do you mean you don't want to do anything?" Apollo pouted at Hermes as they made their way from the throne room, growing larger and larger until they reached their true form. "Are you still mad from the pig incident?"

"No, it's not that-"

"Really?" Apollo grinned playfully and hugged his younger brother. "That's good then! I was worried for a moment there that I'd crossed a line-"

"It's alright, Apollo," Hermes reassured him, "it's not that. I just want to be alone for a little while, that's all. To take a break from everything that's going on and maybe try to find new ways of-"

"-helping Luke," Apollo finished kindly. "That's alright, I understand. I would definitely be doing the same if I found myself in your position- though I doubt that I'd be able to hide what was bothering me from the others for long."

"You certainly can be a bit rash at times," Hermes agreed, "and tend to act or punish those without much thought. However, at least your heart is in the right place."

"Thanks," Apollo smiled and clapped him on the back once before wrapping Hermes in a tight embrace. "And being the older brother I'll always do my best to help you – no matter if we get into silly arguments at times. You'll never be alone with all your family living around you twenty four seven. Just try to remember that. Sooo," Apollo broke them apart slowly, "I'll see you in an hour." He smiled and began to head towards his home.

"Oh, and Hermes?" Apollo called, as he turned back briefly to meet his brother's gaze, "as well as never being alone when you find yourself in need of some company and reassurance, remember that you'll never be alone when worrying about your children. So whilst you spend time worrying about them, just remember that I'll be watching over them too."

With that, each of them went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, back in the throne room, everyone save for Zeus, Chiron, Dionysus, Hephaestus and Athena had decided to remain in the throne room. As Ares had decided to take a nap, Hades and Poseidon had decided to pass the time getting to know each other better - which seemed quite ridiculous to some, as they had known one another for more than three thousand years – and were making quite a remarkable progress. In this light, with each member of the male side of the family conveniently occupied, the main topic of conversation circled around the upcoming ball.

"Only a few more months to go," Persephone smiled. "Though I'm not quite sure what I'll be wearing to the event just yet, but I'm sure it will be absolutely perfect this year. Especially since Hades and I are getting on so much better recently, now that we've finally started to communicate with one another."

"Are we on schedule for everything?" Demeter asked Hera who, as the queen, had taken the responsibility of planning the event.

"Yes," Hera nodded as she conjured a stack of papers into her hands and started to look through them. "Or at least we should be. This year, as you all know, instead of holding the event on earth, the annual winter solstice ball will be held on Olympus herself. As usual, it is compulsory for every family member to attend, if only for a few minutes for the opening ceremony. Each of us will arrive early to greet our immortal friends, and finally our mortal guests and hopefully stay until after the final guest leaves. There is no dress theme this year, therefore you are free to wear what you desire."

"I hear it's compulsory to bring a partner to this year's event," Demeter continued to ask her sister, whilst carefully re-styling her nails a vivid green in attempt to cover the last shade of red that had decorated her skin. "Is this true?"

Hera nodded in the direction of her sister, as her gaze was momentarily directed to a large stack of check lists.

"A male partner?" Hestia asked from her place amongst the hearth with a small frown upon her face.

Another nod was her response, as Hera began rapidly ticking away at each box on the second sheet of paper.

"What?" Artemis exclaimed, rising from her chair to storm towards her step mother. "You know I always go with Hestia or Athena, if I go at all!"

"You WILL be going," Hera's voice dropped down into a dangerous, but not unfamiliar, tone of voice as she momentarily lifted her gaze from the preparations to glare at her step-daughter. "Everyone will expect every member of the family there, and that WILL include YOU."

"But," Demeter frowned at the decision. "Normally it's optional if we desire to appear with friends or lovers. Why the sudden change, sister?"

Hera sighed once before laying the pages down all together to turn her head to meet her sister's stare.

"Look," Hera sighed, "Aphrodite personally came to me with the proposal – asking for this change from how we normally do things in order for it to appear more interesting and romantic –like how a ball should actually be. Additionally, as the goddess of marriage I thought it was a thoughtful idea to try to increase the number of faithful couples in the world out there any way that I could. Now," she began to raise her voice as the others protested. "It will only be for this year. And the beautifully romantic decor will appear to be simply amazing once it is completed. Just give it a chance. And since no one expects you, Artemis or Hestia to get married anytime soon, try not to take the general theme too much to heart. In your case it doesn't matter if you are attractive to the male in question or not- just pick a male character that you admire and/ or value as a friend. You could even go with a family member, such as Hermes or Apollo."

"Apollo?" Artemis' nose wrinkled in disdain.

"Yes, Apollo," Hera sighed patiently. "Though he may seem immature at times, you know he loves you, Artemis, and would never do anything to hurt you and would protect you from any male that tries to make and advancement on you without your permission."

"But I wouldn't need the help," the childlike looking goddess frowned, "no matter how innocent I look, I'm perfectly capable of providing my own protection."

"Nevertheless," Hera smirked, "you have two months until the ball. Therefore, unless you want to be stuck with Apollo- who for all you know could have asked someone else to go with him anyway - I highly suggest that you start looking for a partner."

"Otherwise you'll find one for us?" Demeter snorted, but upon seeing her sister's superior grin, her face paled considerably and gave a meek 'alright' in response to the demand.

Aphrodite meanwhile, was unusually silent throughout the conversation, as she struggled to make sense of all that was going on inside her mind.

_Who shall I take?_ She wondered. _Everyone would expect me to want to take Ares to the ball, where everyone would then appear to look shocked that I actually went through with it! Hypocrites! She shook her head. I'm not too sure I even want Ares to take me this year anymore either to be honest. Ever since we've been reading this book I haven't quite liked the side of him that's been on display. Frankly the opposite!_

She smiled wistfully. _Hephaestus has been so good to me recently…or..rather, I've noticed him being so good to me recently…_

_Seriously though, it has to have happened recently.. I can't be that shallow not to have noticed this kind of behaviour coming from him before, can't I?_

She squeezed her eyes tightly. _But Ares looks like the perfect lover! He has the looks, status and stature and is pretty good at talking to the crowd when he gets into his stride. A lot of people admire him, and a lot of people would love to push me aside to get to him. The same can be said for me. We'd make a great power couple. Do I need any more evidence to tell you that he should be my perfect love?_

_But_ _then there's Hephaestus, the one that I'm actually married to. Hephaestus_, she sighed, _when I first heard I was supposed to marry you I literally smashed every single thing in my sight for four nights straight. When you proposed I tried to kill you, in our engagement party I cried all over you, and on our wedding day I was sleeping with Ares, the only person available at the time…Was that how my relationship with Ares started? Gosh I hope not! But poor Hephaestus…I never really gave you a chance, did i?_ _No wonder you were so cold towards me sometimes- I wouldn't like it if you flaunted a woman in my face either…_

_Should I invite him to the ball with me though?_ She wondered, deep in thought. _All this time together and I barely even know him! How pathetic is that! But in those moments when he let me inside- even if it was only for a few seconds- it was the happiest I could genuinely remember feeling…_

_I should invite him to the ball_, she thought. _Maybe by me doing this, my children and others will realise that being shallow brings nothing but unhappiness-that true love can be found absolutely everywhere? It would be nice to be the one in a perfect and happy relationship for a change…_

_Okay, I will invite him to the ball_, she promised herself. _And I will try to make things work. I-_

"Aphrodite?" Hera barked sharply, breaking her away from her chain of thought. "Zeus is trying to say something.

As Aphrodite looked up again she saw that everyone was back in the room again, with Ares holding the book and about to read.

"What I said was," Zeus repeated to her, "between Dionysus, Chiron and I, it's quite possible to arrange for the demigods to have a weekly outing in smaller groups. The rules do not prevent us from organising this. We only need to arrange a time and find out where everyone wishes to go."

"Now," Hera nodded towards Ares, as the papers that were on her lap mysteriously disappeared, "you may begin."

"Can't I swap with someone else though?" Ares whined," this chapter title sucks!"

"What's it called?" Poseidon asked a little worriedly, concerned for his sons safety.

"Will my daughter be alright?" Athena asked anxiously.

"**We Get Advice from a Poodle,**" Ares sulked. "Trust me to get the lame chapters!"

"Well," Poseidon thought about the title slowly. "It doesn't seem to indicate anything dangerous..What do you think, Athena?"

"You're asking me?" Athena raised her eyebrows at him. "Normally you, and everyone else couldn't care less about what I say on a subject."

"That's not true," Poseidon told her. "Mostly they hate it when you assume they don't know something when you go on to explain a term, as it could come out as you thinking that the rest of us are inferior compared to you. But when it's time for some genuine and helpful advice, we will always respect your opinion."

Athena thought about that for a moment. "Well," she said at last, "thank you, ah, Poseidon. And I'll try to tone things down a notch. But what I would have said was that the word 'advice' seems to be non-threatening and informative- so I personally doubt that anything horrendous should happen here."

"Plus," Persephone giggled, "poodles are cute!"

"No they are not!" Hades scowled at her, "they are victims of torture! I bet all the other breeds of the species are busy laughing away at them as we speak!"

Persephone slapped him once, as Ares rolled his eyes and continued onwards with the story.

"**We were pretty miserable that night."**

"The poor darlings," Demeter sighed sadly. "I wonder where they had to sleep this time…"

"Hopefully nowhere too terrible," Hermes agreed, feeling a lot more positive than he had been that day.

**We camped out in the woods, **

"That doesn't sound too bad," Artemis shrugged. "Personally I find the woods to be far more comfortable than the cramped rooms that I currently stay in now."

"Really?" Apollo looked at his sister in a funny way. "Then I guess we're total opposites then."

"Camping is alright," Hermes spoke up, "as long as you have all the right equipment to make it comfortable. Without a proper tent and sleeping bag it would be torture!"

"And this is why we should from now on make sure that those that go away on quests have enough money on them to keep them safe and comfortable when they can help it," Hestia spoke in Zeus' direction.

"I agree with that," Persephone smiled. "Hades and I will even contribute something to the cause. Right, honey?"

Hades just glanced at Zeus. "If I had any children welcomed in their own cabin in the camp I would have given just about anything to keep them safe."

Struggling to meet his gaze, Zeus simply looked down at his feet in shame, instantly regretting losing his temper all those years ago…

Meanwhile, as the others were lost in the sheer tension of that moment, Ares sighed once and read on.

**a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties.**

"Eww," Aphrodite couldn't help herself, "that is very unhygenic! Plus, they could catch a cold, or worse!"

Athena frowned. "I just hope that the people before them left nothing behind except for empty beer cans…"

"If that!" Demeter argued. "The environment is bad enough without people spoiling it with such horrible acts!"

"Just what kind of horrible acts are you thinking of, Demeter?" Hermes grinned. "Maybe se-"

"Let's just carry on," Zeus sighed tiredly. "We're only on the first book!"

**The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.**

"Mortals," Hera scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Apollo giggled. "Maybe they're not such the hardcore types you thought they were! Geez, they're just eating fast-food! Not drinking or doing drugs!"

"Or having sex," Hermes reminded him.

"Or having sex," Apollo confirmed. "That we know of anyway."

"….."

**We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes.** **The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract anything else.**

"The wise thing to do," Hephaestus nodded in Athena's direction, who gave him a warm smile in return.

"It's just common sense," she told him gently. "I'm sure you would have done the same if you found yourself in a similar situation."

As the both of them continued to smile at one another, Aphrodite began to frown.

_Since when did the both of them get so close?_ She wondered briefly_. Recently? Mmm, they weren't here with the majority of us in the last break, nor were they_ _with Zeus, Chiron or Dionysus. I doubt any of them were with Hermes and Apollo – who seem to be spending an awful lot of time together recently! So,_ she frowned, _what were they doing?_

**We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take first watch.**

"As a gentleman should," Hades approved, as Persephone smiled up at him.

"But what if she wanted to take the first watch?" she asked him. "Would you, as the male, have minded?"

"Not really," he thought for a moment. "It is always courteous behaviour for a male to volunteer first, but if anyone wants to have the task then you should abide by their wishes- be them male or female."

"Sounds fair enough to me," Persephone settled back down as the reading began again.

**Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground.** **Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky. **

"**Go ahead and sleep," I told him. "I'll wake you if there's trouble."**

**He nodded, but still didn't close his eyes. "It makes me sad, Percy."**

"**What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?" **

"Someone's cranky," Hermes noted sympathetically. "And he hasn't even started his job properly yet."

"Leave him alone, Hermes," Poseidon warned. "He's just a little on edge at the moment, which is perfectly reasonable."

"Besides," Dionysus rolled his eyes. "The quest is not stupid. It is suicidal!"

"_Not helping," Poseidon winced at the choice of words. Though it does sound more accurate like that…_

"**No. **_**This**_** makes me sad." He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. **

"Ahh," Dionysus sighed, "the environment. _Well_. That would make anyone sad."

Ares stopped reading momentarily to give Dionysus a questioning gaze.

"What?" he defended himself. "Think of how my poor little vines are suffering without my helping hand to nurture them into the perfect specimens for wine…tragic!"

"Mmm," Zeus thought as he turned to look at the wine god. "I never really focused on it, but I guess you are a god that helps to give nature a helping hand."

"Yes…," Dionysus answered warily. "What's your point?"

"At this current time," Zeus started, "the earth needs all the nature spirits that is available to help to keep it alive and unpolluted."

"So…"

"So I realise that currently you are not able to use your gifts to your full potential," Zeus continued. "Therefore, I will give you a chance to lessen your punishment."

"Meaning?" Dionysus leaned forward in his chair, a hopeful expression coming across on his face.

"Meaning that you were right," Zeus sighed, "I guess I am sometimes harsher on you than on some of the others. You still have to remain at camp to help tutor the demigods currently attending there for the remainder of the time..and I mean properly help them this time. If you properly do this, I will allow you to have one glass of wine a week, so you can hopefully feel a bit better able to improve the quality of the natural world around you."

"I..don't know what to say," Dionysus said slowly, "you've never changed anyone's punishment before now."

Zeus struggled to meet his son's gaze, "let's just say we both have to learn when to admit we're wrong and how to act in a different manner from now on."

"So," Dionysus repeated, "if you try not to over-react to everything you hear, I'l-I'll t-try to help other more.."

"Deal?"

Dionysus nodded, unable to trust his voice as his first glass of wine in years appeared in his hands.

Meanwhile, as he started to sip it slowly, Ares continued.

**"And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky.**

"Can you do anything about that, father?" Persephone asked Zeus, who appeared thoughtful. "We shouldn't all the consolations that have been created over these thousands of years fade out of sight so easily."

"I'll have to think about that one…," Zeus answered carefully. "I could blow the pollution away, but it'll have to go somewhere else-"

**This is a terrible time to be a satyr."**

"**Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist." **

Everyone chuckled lightly. They all knew that the satyrs took this very seriously.

**He glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast … ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan."**

"**Pam? Like the cooking spray?"**

"Why would you name some cooking spray 'Pam'?" Apollo asked. "Is it short for something?"

Athena sighed, "You don't really care either way, do you?"

Apollo shook his head happily. "Nope," he thought happily, "I was just thinking of how awkward it would have been if Percy didn't ask that question, and kept on thinking throughout the books that Grover was on this life-changing quest for some decent cooking spray. Just imagine their faces when Percy goes and buys him some, trying to cheer him up on Christmas or his birthday!"

"That actually would be funny to see," Hephaestus pointed out and Athena even giggled a little, causing everyone to look at her a little funnily.

"What?"

"Has anyone wondered though," Hermes said, voicing the thoughts that had been in his head for a while, "that Pan doesn't want to be found? That way, it would make sense why not even us, with our major godly powers, can find him."

Athena instantly went into thinking mode. "Yes," she nodded, "I had come to thinking similar thoughts on the subject myself. Though I do not know why he would do such a thing if it is true. Especially given the state of the current environment."

"I bet you five sand dollars," Poseidon smiled almost smugly to Zeus, "that Percy will discover the reason for this throughout the action appearing in the books."

Zeus scoffed at the bet. "Please! If all of us together couldn't find Pan, what makes you think Percy and Grover c-"

"-and Annabeth-" Athena coughed heavily.

"-and Annabeth could find him in such a small amount of time? I accept the deal!"

As they moved to finalise the deal Hades, feeling surprisingly bold after his bonding time with Poseidon, evilly interrupted. "Hang on, hang on! Let's make this a bit more interesting, shall we?"

Zeus, Poseidon and Persephone frowned at this in surprise. "What did you have in mind?"

"Whoever loses," Hades grinned, "has to dye his clothes and hair a bright and vivid pink for five months."

As everyone burst out into giggly laughter, Hermes and Apollo built up a steady chant of 'Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!' until they unanimously agreed and shook their hands in agreement.

Ares in particular was pleased. As he made a mental note to prepare a camera ready for the final outcome and to start taking bets on who would lose with the other gods and goddesses, he continued to read.

"**Pan!" he cried indignantly. "P-A-N. The great god Pan! What do you think I want a searcher's license for?"**

**A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rain water, things that might've been in these woods. Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known.**

"**Tell me about the search," I said. **

**Grover looked at me cautiously, as if he were afraid I was just making fun.**

"**The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," he told me. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' **

"Mysterious," Hermes repeated mostly to himself. "It could have been Pan who uttered those words."

_But why would he decide to give up? _

_I can't be that bad a father…could I?_

**When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died.**

"The satyrs are way too stubborn for their own good." Artemis said, shaking her head sadly.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Demeter commented. "When really is isn't."

"It's not a bad thing for the environment," Artemis confided to her, "as they'll give their lives for the smallest of chances to make it all better again. But I do think that their stubbornness is damaging to themselves. I mean, they put themselves through all this constant stress and grief about Pan and the environment dying that they hardly get any time to themselves to just relax and enjoy."

"They do need help," Hestia nodded. "More nature spirits are needed, as well as more gods or goddesses to help fix or limit the damage of pollution."

"Plus you need a miracle," Hephaestus agreed, "to make more mortals realise the damage that they are creating before it is too late to prevent it…"

**In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep."**

"Except the fact that these quests have never ended well," Chiron said sadly in remembrance of a few close friends he has lost to the cause.

Ares frowned, "then why can't you get some demigods to go with the satyrs to protect them while they're on their nature quest?"

Athena turned her head to him, "Why not indeed? If anything it will improve their chances of survival – if there's not too much demigods on the quest that is, of course."

"I'll suggest it to the council," Chiron said, "if we still have not discovered the location and /or cause of Pan's disappearance by the end of the books. After all, a lot of the demigods owe their lives to the satyrs for getting them safely to camp- it is about time that we do something for the satyrs for a change…"

"**And you want to be a searcher."**

"**It's my life's dream," he said. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand … the statue you saw back there—"**

"**Oh, right, sorry."**

**Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive."**

"He won't," Zeus said, almost sadly.

"Oh, yes he will, brother," Poseidon smiled to him, before looking at the others in the room. "What does everyone else say?"

"Twenty drachmas says he doesn't!" Ares betted, as he threw some coins into the centre of the room.

"Twenty drachmas says he does," Dionysus uttered quietly, a doing the same.

"Hmm," Hephaestus pondered. "I think he succeeds."

Everyone went around the room and bet on the fate of the satyr, Grover. As Aphrodite betted for Grover to win, it left Zeus, Ares, Hera (to appear loyal to her husband), Apollo surprisingly, as Zeus had continued to glare at him menacingly until he had sided with him and Aphrodite against, Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Persephone, Hades – if only to get a smile out of Persephone and brownie points from Demeter- Chiron, Artemis and Hestia.

Ares read on.

"**Hang on—**_**the first?**_**" **

**Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again."**

"**Not once in two thousand years?"**

"Which is why you are so going down, Poseidon," Zeus smirked as Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"In your dreams sky boy!"

"**No."**

"**And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"**

"**None."**

"Which is actually pretty bad," Hestia frowned, as those around her agreed.

"Is there any way for them to better communicate with each other?" Demeter asked Athena, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Not that I know of," she replied. "They should either travel in larger groups- hopefully accompanied by guardians in future- or we could give them more drachma's for iris messaging."

"Though you'll have a better look at the situation when you have more free time?" Demeter pressed her.

She nodded slowly, in which everyone tried to move onwards.

"**But you still want to go," I said, amazed. "I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"**

"**I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It's the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened."**

**I stared at the orange haze of the sky and tried to understand how Grover could pursue a dream that seemed so hopeless. Then again, was I any better?**

"**How are we going to get into the Underworld?" I asked him. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"**

"Well," Apollo said, "if the god is Hades, then you'll have no problem. He's a big softie."

Hades glared at Apollo and said, "Softie?" he scoffed. He'll show them.

"Now darling," Persephone smiled sweetly at him and gave him a big cuddle, "just ignore your mean relatives…"

"Oh, I don't know," Hades thought, playing with her hair, "we still need someone to test out the new dungeon slash torture cha-"

"You know what?" Apollo raised his voice to a sort of squeaky tone. "Maybe I was mistaken."

"Maybe?" Hades raised his eyebrows threateningly.

""Definitely," Apollo stuttered, "can't see any softies around here!"

"Besides yourself," Persephone pointed out innocently, as Hades grinned wickedly.

"Besides myself," Apollo slumped into his seat, whilst Hermes was struggling not to laugh.

_You sure told him, didn't you dude?_ Hermes giggled mentally.

_Oh shut it, you!_ Apollo warned him, sending him a small psychic punch to the shoulder.

"**I don't know," he admitted. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office? Annabeth was telling me—"**

"**Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out."**

Athena glared at the book, making Poseidon squirm from the hard look.

"What?" Hermes looked at her innocently. "Annabeth would have had a plan figured out by now. What's the problem?"

"He doesn't have to say it so negatively," Athena scowled, whilst trying to hide the stab of hurt she felt by the statement. "Being smart is a gift! People should stop taking it for granted and take it how it actually is for a change!"

"**Don't be so hared on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me…" His voice faltered.**

"**What do you mean?" I asked "Forgave you for what?"**

Seeing as no one wanted to walk into that subject, Ares read on uninterrupted for a change.

**Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes.**

"**Wait a minute," I said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp five years. She wasn't … I mean, your first assignment that went wrong—"**

"I'm surprised he figured it out." Athena scowled, as Hera went to address her.

"Athena," she started softly, "I'm sorry if you think we take advantage of you because of your intelligence, or if we take you for granted. Because you never told us directly, we never realised how you felt. But don't take your frustrations out on the boy –or at least try not to. We're always here for you, you know, if you ever feel the need of someone to talk to about personal matters, and not just strategic/information/advicey matters."

"Yeah," Apollo spoke up. "I mean, I tease you all the time- but I'll always be there for you if you really need me. So will Hermes, Ares, and everyone else."

"You just need to let us in sometime, that's all," Hermes smiled at her. "We're not that bad!"

Athena didn't trust herself to speak after that. She nodded her head towards them and continued to stare at the floor.

Realising that this was all that they were going to get for now, Zeus nodded at Ares to continue reading.

"**I can't talk about it," Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he'd start crying if I pressed him. "But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."**

"**Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunder bolt that Hades took."**

"I didn't—" Hades started, but was cut off by Zeus.

"There's no need for you to explain again, brother," Zeus told him, "we already believe you."

"**That's not what I mean," Grover said. "The Fur—The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy … why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been."**

"That is true," Hades mused, "though I wonder why that is."

_What does this boy have that would make me react like this?_

"**They seemed plenty aggressive to me."**

**Grover shook his head. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"**

"**Asking about me," I said. **

"**Maybe … but Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person. They said. 'Where is **_**it**_**?' They seemed to be asking about an object."**

"**That doesn't make sense."**

"**I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt…" He looked at me like he was hoping for answers, but I didn't have any.**

"So what do we think is going on at this point then?" Ares asked the group.

"Well," Artemis gathered up the facts, "Zeus has had his lightning bolt stolen and blames Poseidon. Poseidon's angry and wants an apology- so it's highly unlikely that he stole anything. Hades is in the frame, but after sending more than one of his strongest monsters –not to immediately kill Percy but wanting something from him first –shows that he either didn't steal the lightning bolt from Zeus but thinks Percy did and wants it off him, or –"

"-something's been stolen from him too," Demeter finished the sentence.

"But," Hades started, "I couldn't-wouldn't…searching…my helm? Is my helm of darkness alright?"

Athena nodded, "though the situation is highly confusing, it seems the most likely of options, doesn't it? It could've been stolen at the same time as the bolt."

"But," Hera frowned, "if your helm was stolen, why wouldn't your future self have said anything?"

"Maybe," Hades answered furiously, "that I either believed that you wouldn't have cared or helped me search for it like you would've done for anyone else, or that the possibility occurred to me that one of you must have done so…and before any of you say that you wouldn't have treated my case any different from Zeus' or Poseidon –if he would've had something stolen- because at the end of the day I'm still an outsider on Olympus and the very thought of my children are still outsiders at camp. The lack of cabins, houses and the oracle are a testament to this."

"We're.." Zeus tried to think of something to say in response, though words failed him, as Apollo hastily interrupted.

"What does the oracle have to do with anything?" Apollo asked him in confusion which gradually changed to suspicion.

As Hades refused to answer any more questions, Ares continued onwards.

**I thought about what Medusa had said: I was being used by the gods.**

Poseidon groaned. Of course he'd take something like that to heart.

**What lay ahead of me was worse than petrifaction. "I haven't been straight with you," I told Grover. "I don't care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother."**

"Well," Hera said, "you should care about getting it."

**Grover blew a soft note on his pipes. "I know that, Percy. But are you sure that's the only reason?"**

"**I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him."**

Poseidon put his head in his hands. Hestia placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"I know you care very much for Percy, Poseidon." Hestia consoled. "I'm positive that Percy cares about you too, he's just to proud to admit it. Sure, he may say that, but on the inside he just wants to make you proud." Hestia smiled at Poseidon as he lifted his head and nodded.

**Grover gazed down from his tree branch. "Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. I'm not as brave as you. But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you'd done."**

"I'm sure we noticed," Apollo laughed, remembering Zeus's facial expression.

"I won't forget it, either!" Zeus yelled.

"Daaaad," Dionysus warned him, who instantly stopped mid rant and smiled sheepishly at his son.

"Old habits…"

Hestia rolled her eyes at them and said, "See, Poseidon, he does care, and you know satyrs are very good at empathy."

"I just wished we could've seen how we reacted when he sent us that box," Hermes grinned at Apollo. "What do you think you'd have done?"

"Mmm," Apollo had to think for a moment, "not sure what the first thing I would have done, but I would have definitely tried my best to get dad to give me the head as another tool for pranking people."

"Scratch that then," Ares grinned, "I would have loved to see dad's face and thoughts about you asking him that!"

Hermes laughed, "sheer terror is too weak a phrase to describe such a moment I think…"

As everyone decided to chuckle at the mental image Ares relaxed and decided to read on.

"**Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks."**

**Grover pulled his feet up onto the branch. "Okay, Percy. Whatever."**

"**Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about. We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money and no way west."**

**Grover looked at the night sky, like he was thinking about the problem. "How about **_**I**_** take first watch, huh? You get some sleep."**

**I wanted to protest,** **but he started to play Mozart, **

"Mozart," Athena smiled at that, "the satyr is vastly improving!"

"Yes," Hephaestus had to agree to that, "it could have been a much more devastating choice! Bleh, pop music!"

Both of them burst out laughing, leaving Apollo and Ares to feel pleasantly surprised and proud of their sisters character development.

_There's some hope for her yet…_

**soft and sweet, and I turned away, my eyes stinging. After a few bars of Piano Concerto no. 12, I was asleep.**

**In my dreams, **

Poseidon cringed when he heard the reference to yet another demigod dream.

"I hope it's nothing too terrible," Aphrodite thought anxiously, worried for the little guy.

**I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. **

"Could that be Tartarus?" Chiron asked Hades, who nodded once, still a little raw emotionally to be able to talk normally.

"I think so…" Persephone answered for him, gripping his hand tightly. "It certainly seems like it."

_Please don't let it be true_, Zeus' thoughts seemed to echo throughout the room. _There must be some other rational explanation out there somewhere…._

**Gray mist creatures churned all around me, whispering rags of smoke that I somehow knew were the spirits of the dead. They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the chasm.**

"No, please don't," Poseidon pleaded.

_I thought this chapter was supposed to be nice and relaxing!_

_If it truly is Kronos_, Athena thought, _how could he be this powerful this quickly? Without us even hearing a whisper of it?_

_This is truly bad news!_

**Looking down made me dizzy. **

**The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, I knew it must be bottomless. Yet I had a feeling that something was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil.**

The tension in the room increased to almost visible waves as everyone appeared to be glued to the chapter..

_**The little hero, **_**an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. **_**Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do.**_** The voice felt ancient—cold and heavy. It wrapped around me like sheets of lead.**

"What!" Poseidon yelled. If this was who he thought it was, things were about to get bad.

"No, he won't do!" Apollo felt the need to shout out. "He's way too scrawny—go and choose someone else!"

"There is no one else to choose from," Poseidon sighed, as Hades tried to not look too guilty.

_I'll have to tell them soon, if I ever want them to forgive me…but I can't take the risk yet of Zeus hurting them. He's not completely changed yet for me to trust him that much…_

_**They have misled you, boy, **_**it said. **_**Barter with me. I will give you what you want.**_

"Don't listen to the voice, son!" Poseidon yelled at the book. Nobody mentioned that he was talking to a book and that Percy couldn't really hear him. They were all too wary about what was happening.

Worse, everyone else wanted to shout out the same thing too…

**A shimmering image hovered over the void: my mother, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold. Her face was distorted with pain, as if the Minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at me, pleading: **_**Go!**_

"Listen to your mother and leave!" Poseidon pleaded.

"It's a dream, Poseidon." Athena said quietly at last, "I don't think he can, unless someone wakes him up."

**I tried to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work. **

**Cold laughter echoed from the chasm. **

**An invisible force pulled me forward. It would drag me into the pit unless I stood firm.**

"No, no, no, this is _not _good!" Poseidon muttered frantically.

_**Help me rise, boy.**_** The voice became hungrier. **_**Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!**_

"Oh dear," Demeter said, wide-eyed.

"This is impossible!" Zeus repeated. "Kronos cannot be rising!"

"Well, according to the book," Athena said. "he is."

"I know," Zeus put his head in his hand, "but..oh this is dreadful!"

"So this is the threat that the world will face," Dionysus murmured, his wine glass nearly empty of its contents. "I wonder what Percy will decide…"

_Where's the poodle that the title chapter promised?_ Poseidon thought glumly. _Stupid false advertising…_

**The spirits of the dead whispered around me, **_**No! Wake!**_

"Listen to the dead." Hades whispered with his eyes closed hard in concentration. "Listen to the dead…"

Poseidon had his head in his hands, hoping that the child of Athena or the satyr would wake Percy up.

Everyone's breath was held…

**The image of my mother began to fade. The thing in the pit tightened its unseen grip around me.**

Minions, Hades thought strongly, if you fail to help him, so help me I will make you wish you were serving a millennia in the field of punishment being eaten by vultures all day every day….

**I realized it wasn't interested in pulling me in. It was using me to pull itself **_**out.**_

"Somebody wake the brat up!" Ares finally yelled, breaking the ominous silence and chanting. Everyone looked at him, he was the last one they expected to say something like that. "What? Just because he's not my favourite person, doesn't mean I want Kronos coming back around here." He defended. "I mean, for a kid, he's actually pretty cool…"

_**Good,**_** it murmured. **_**Good.**_

_No, no, no….._

_**Wake!**_** the dead whispered. **_**Wake!**_

_Yes, yes, yes.._

_Come on son,…_

**Someone was shaking me.**

**My eyes opened, and it was daylight. **

"Thank goodness," Hestia said. Poseidon breathed a sigh of relief, this book was _surely_ going to kill him.

"**Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."**

"Your daughter," Poseidon wiped his forehead in relief, "is currently my favourite person alive!"

Athena smiled proudly at that. It wasn't often that she got complimented by Poseidon.

"But what happened to the shifts they were supposed to take?" Demeter felt the need to point out the tiny flaw that had occurred.

"At this point," Ares glanced up from the book, "who the heck cares?"

"Hmph!"

**I was trembling from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around my chest. "How long was I asleep?"**

"**Long enough for me to cook breakfast."**

"Aw," Aphrodite couldn't help but smile at that. "That sounds so lovely!"

_The world definitely needed more of that kind of love, care, kindness and attention. Although it's just a simple act of making breakfast,_ she thought, _it was made with kindness and consideration…I just wish I had more of that in my life…_

**Annabeth tossed me a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar.**

"I bet it took a long time to make that." Ares said sarcastically, and Aphrodite's sudden mood lift disappeared as sharply as it had appeared.

"**And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."**

"He has friends?" Apollo stage whispered long enough for Artemis to knock another arrow at him and Hera to send them both a stony glare.

"What did I say about launching arrows at each other whilst reading the books?" she said in a deadly whisper as she went over to inspect Apollo's hand that had the arrow sticking out of it.

"She hit me-"

"He started it-"

"BEHAVE!" She all but shouted as she marched back to her throne. "Now we've had a trying day. I recognise the need to 'blow off some steam' as you say, but there is NEVER the time for family violence!"

Hephaestus just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Now," Hera referred to Ares as she began calming down once again. "You may continue reading."

**My eyes had trouble focusing.**

"I hope he doesn't need any glasses?" Poseidon fussed anxiously.

"We seriously need to get the boy to eat more cereal," Demeter joined in at once. "Cereal fixes everything!"

**Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal.**

"A pig?" Apollo srunched his nose. "Isn't it a little bit early to try to cook pork chops?"

"Apollo," Aphrodite sighed in his direction. "Must everything with you revolve somehow or other to food?"

"Mmmm, fooood," Apollo licked his lips. "What a good idea!"

Groaning, Ares had to halt the reading for at least twenty minutes to conjure up the right amount of pork chops to keep Apollo happy for a while.

"Now," he begged, "can we just read and get this over with?"

**No. It wasn't a stuffed animal. It was a pink poodle. **

"Ah the magical advice-giving poodle!" Hermes said. "At last!"

"Who said anything about magic?" Aphrodite asked in confusion,

"No one really," Hermes shrugged his shoulders, "but it just sounds cooler if you do!"

"And believe it," Hades nodded in agreement, "a poodle needs all the help it can get!"

Persephone slapped him again…

**The poodle yapped at me suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not."**

"The poodle can talk?" Persephone's eyes lit up like oval sparkling jewels, which made Demeter know exactly what to get her for a solstice gift.

"The poodle can't talk," Hades growled, his cheek rapidly turning a flaming red.

_It will make her happy and annoy that brother of mine at the same time_, Demeter mused. _The best of both worlds…_

"What did the poodle say?" Apollo wondered, completely ignoring Hades' comment.

"The world may never know…" Hermes said sadly.

"Then how do we get advice from it?" Aphrodite and Ares asked in unison, whereupon both turned to stare at another in mild astonishment.

"Because," Hades sighed heavily, "thought the poodle can't talk, Grover can talk to animals and therefore understand what the animal in return is trying to say…"

"But isn't that talking?"

"Not human language," Hades scoffed, as the others quickly launched into a heated debate about the whole issue…

**I blinked. "Are you … talking to that thing?"**

"I don't think _that thing_ will like that." Artemis frowned, feeling something close to pity for the way that the animal was being treated.

_Males…_

**The poodle growled.**

"See," Artemis smiled smugly, as Apollo simply rolled her eyes at her attitude.

"No one argued with you, sis." Apollo sighed.

_She really needs to learn how to get along with men better sometime soon,_ he prayed. _I don't think I can take much more of this…_

"**This **_**thing**_**," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."**

"**You can talk to animals?"**

**Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy." **

"Hah," Ares laughed, "Gladiola sounds like a sissy name."

No one could argue against that, as they all started to giggle at the mention of it.

**I stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me, but she looked deadly serious. **

"**I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," I said. "Forget it."**

"Now, now, Percy," Hermes said, "You mustn't be rude to the pink poodle!"

"Besides," Hephaestus reasoned, "it's just a hello. It's not a kiss or someone asking you to eat dog food…though I'm not sure which one I'd rather too be honest…"

"Both ways leaves you with dog breath," Hermes agreed. "Though the first option you could wind up with various hairs in your mouth…"

"Ew, okay," Persephone groaned, "too much information!"

"Aw darling," Hades cuddled her soothingly, "it's alright."

"I definitely don't want a dog now," she scowled, "one bad memory too many!"

_Darn_, Demeter cursed….

"**Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."**

"Yes," Athena nodded at Annabeth's behaviour. "You must play fair young hero…"

**The poodle growled.**

**I said hello to the poodle.**

**Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola**

Giggle's erupted throughout the room once more.

"Seriously guys," Ares sighed, "we're nearly done, so please be quiet while I finish?"

**in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return.**

"Wait, wait, wait," Hephaestus said confused, "Did it just say '_his_ return?'"

Ares looked at the book and nodded, confirming that it did in fact say 'his.'

" A male pink poodle named Gladiola?" Ares reacted in outrage. "How does he bare the shame?"

"Poor little guy," Artemis reacted automatically to cry to reassure the animal. "It's not your fault how others have treated you , is it? No wonder you ran away and acted extra tough in front of the other males in your area. You must have to fight harder than any of them to even stay alive!"

Apollo couldn't help but smile proudly at his sister's words. _There's still some hope for her yet…_

**Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing if it meant helping Grover.**

_And you're selfless and all, _Artemis all but cooed_, a perfect being…_

"**How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I asked.**

"**He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."**

"Of course," Poseidon said, rolling his eyes.

"I thought you said dogs didn't understand human language, Hades?" Zeus frowned at his brother in confusion, which launched another lengthily debate about language and animals…

"**Of course," I said. "Silly me."**

"**So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."**

"Sure it sounds simple," Hephaestus said, "but things are sure to go wrong."

Hera couldn't help but agree with her son. "Nothing is ever so simple."

**I thought about my dream—the whispering voices of the dead, the thing in the chasm, and my mother's face, shimmering as it dissolved into gold. All that might be waiting for me in the West. **

"**Not another bus," I said warily.**

"**No," Annabeth agreed.**

**She pointed downhill, toward train tracks I hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon."**

"And that's the end of that chapter," Ares cheered and turned to his father, "can I go back to sleep now?"

Zeus gave Ares a barely tolerant grin before nodding and giving everyone the usual one hour gap before the next chapter would be read.


	18. The Parent's Game

_**(A.N, Normally I would have waited before sending this mini story for the whole chapter to be completed. But, because I have been severely late in updating lately, I thought that you guys needed a sign that I am still here and happily willing to write for you, so I posted it ahead of time. The actual chapter will also be released here pretty soon. Thank you all for still following this story, and for forgiving me for being late. Though it's been a while, I will never go back on the vow I made during the first chapter, and I will continue to update until the end.)**_

**Chapter 18 – The Parent's Game**

"And that's the end of that chapter," Ares cheered and turned to his father, "can I go back to sleep now?"

Zeus gave Ares a barely tolerant grin before nodding and giving everyone the usual one hour gap before the next chapter would be read. With his warning delivered, Zeus smiled easily and happily towards Hera and lifted her hand delicately to hold it in his.

_Shall we retire then?_ He winked suggestively, and then continued to laugh gleefully and unashamed as a red hue spread across her face. It was this open display of emotion, and the added glow which had returned to her eyes, and were now almost brimming over with happiness, succeeded in making her appear as the young and carefree girl that she had once been long ago.

However, as the pair began to leave the throne room to retire for the hour, Hera couldn't help but turn her head towards Aphrodite on her way out for her assistance in organising and decorating this year's ball. Yet, instead of discovering the bubbly and cheerful, though somewhat shallow, girl she had always known, Hera was met with such a serious looking pair of eyes and a brooding frown, which seemed focused on some inner conflict that she could not quite understand.

"Is everything okay, sweetheart?" Hera slowed her walk to a brief halt and turned further to face the beautiful immortal. "You appear to have a lot on your mind."

"Yes," she responded quietly, still not moving from her original position. "I'm fine."

Hera, however, still not convinced of the girl's sincerity of her mental predicament sighed once before turning slowly to her husband and whispered into his ear.

"I apologize, my darling," she kissed his cheek once, "although I would much prefer continuing to use these intervals of free time that we have in our reading to get better acquainted intimately with one another once more, I sense that Aphrodite's mind is occupied thoroughly by strong and emotional conflict."

"You shouldn't worry about it so much darling," Zeus tried to comfort her, yet his mind was still fixated with the desire and lust for her that had flared through him, almost uncontrollably mere seconds ago. "Aphrodite, on the whole, simply just doesn't do strong and emotional conflict. If something was bothering her, you know she just comes to me and asks me for whatever she needed for her problems to go away."

"Yes," Hera nodded at that, "there does appear to be truth to your words here. She has been known to perform an abnormally perfect impression of this 'Daddy's little girl' act that has fooled a number of stupid-"

"Hey now," Zeus interrupted, sounding hurt at her portrayal of their relationship, "that's just mean."

"-dominant human males that reside on earth who have been wrapped around a huge number of immature and badly behaved female teenagers. Normally when something bothers her she cannot keep it quiet for long, where she soon comes to you for you to solve it for her, whether the issue at hand revolves around financial worries, more privileges or if she has quarrelled with the other immortals."

"Not to mention," Zeus felt the need to add, though a little glumly, "all the times she came to me wanting me to kill some individuals for her, or to start devastating wars just because she wasn't happy that some random stranger that we hadn't even met- let alone heard of!- before broke another random stranger's heart!"

"But Zeus-"

"I mean," Zeus ranted on, feeling more enraged now, "the whole fiasco with the Trojan War for fu-"

"Darling!" Hera began to fume.

"Yes, dear?" Zeus began to calm down a bit, as he stared at his frowning wife.

"Yes," she sighed, "Aphrodite, in the past, has not made much effort at all to portray herself to be a remotely mature or overly contributing goddess, but can't you see how different things are looking at the moment?"

"Um…"

"Although Aphrodite normally is on hand to offer glamour or decorative advice to me about the annuals balls that we hold to demonstrate our unity and support to the world and people on earth, as well to each other, she very rarely offers to help on the practical side of things. For example, she has been offering suggestions and even volunteering aid, though the later on very recently, on a lot of financial and geographical matters."

"But…"

"More importantly," Hera tried to convince her husband, "both you and I know that if something trivial was wrong with her, she would have complained to you about it long before now, and asked you to get rid of the problem for her."

Zeus frowned at the later remark, as he chose to take another look at the person he had come to call his daughter. True enough, he thought, her facial expressions seemed far too severe and set in too complex a pattern for whatever the matter to be about a random love interest or any trivial matter concerning the other immortals. Hera, upon realizing Zeus' acknowledgment of the problem to be something more than a little matter that could easily be swept under a rug, nodded briefly and smiled encouragingly at him.

"Although she is not actually my daughter," she began, "nor even yours, she was created from our father, though not in the sort of way that we could call normal at all, and is therefore a part of this family. I'd even go to so far as to say she feels more like a daughter to me, to us, rather than a sibling or a fellow immortal. Although I haven't shown her much affection or love in the past, I do firmly stand true to this statement now. Additionally, although she is somewhat older than most of the children, she still holds the naivety and childishness that most of the other children still bear, and in this sense, I strongly feel that I must help her in whatever way I am able."

"That is so caring of you," Zeus smiled at her lovingly, and began to kiss her passionately. "I had almost forgotten this side of you; therefore I am very glad of the reminder. What do you purpose we do?"

"Well," Hera mused, "although she sees you more as a true father figure than I as a mother figure, I get the feeling that this issue may be a rather delicate one.."

"This would explain," Zeus finished for her, "why she has not yet confided with me about what is troubling her."

"Exactly," Hera stated. "Therefore, what I purpose we do is if you leave us for a few minutes –just enough for her to confide the problem with me and for me to properly understand it – then travel back to join us here. This way, the both of us may be able to help her with her whatever difficulty she is hiding away from us, whether it is a large or a small one."

"And even if the problem is a small one," the realisation dawned on Zeus, "we would still not have wasted out time with this worry and the insertion of the awkward upcoming conversation, as Aphrodite would have learned to confide with us."

"Thus," Hera smiled, "taking us one step further with learning to trust, love and to understand one another well enough to be able to change the law that has us bound and unable to be helpful to our extended family on earth."

"You are a true genius, my beautiful wife," Zeus almost launched himself upon her, his desire for her back in full swing, as he continued to trail passionate kisses down her neck and body.

However, as much as Hera was enjoying her husbands attention being fixed once again solely on her, she did currently have other problems that she had to deal with.

"Darling," she moaned, as Zeus began to suck on her earlobe- a particularly sensitive spot on her body, "we must not….forget…"

"No, no," Zeus whispered huskily, as he began to pull fist his hands tightly in her hair, the reason for remaining in the throne room temporarily forgotten, "no…forget…"

"Zeus…" she sighed happily, and wrapped her mouth, so lovingly, around-

"Hey, uh, guys," Aphrodite's tired voice suddenly appeared next to them. "If any clothing is about to be shed between the both of you, it might be a good idea to take this scene to the bedroom where you won't be observed or interrupted…or possibly blackmailed by the younger generation here."

The two instantly broke apart and stared back at Aphrodite's solemn face, feeling sheepish and a little mortified at their apparently short attention span.

"It's alright," Aphrodite brushed their behaviour aside, "its not like I haven't seen worse, is it? And besides, being around me escalates the sexual tendencies you have to one another, which means I'm used to these things happening. Though, I have to say, Hera, I didn't think you had it in you!"

"I'll, ah, leave you two here, then," Zeus responded to the situation, as he began to leave, "to, ah, talk and whatnot."

"Yeah," Hera blushed deeply, "ah, alright."

_She had better not be upset about buying the wrong colour lipstick to match her purse now! _Zeus fumed as he left the throne room in attempt to calm his body down.

_Now don't be ridiculous,_ Hera gently chided her husband, as she was similarly thinking the same thing. _I know I am right about this._

_What should I do to pass the time then,_ Zeus wondered, _until you are in need of me once more?_

_It is up to you, husband of mine, _she sighed. _You may use it to oversee a few governing issues that have been occurring in your absence, or you may use this time to get to know your brothers better. Either decision you make is acceptable to me._

_My love,_ he sighed once more, before leaving for his chosen course of action, leaving Hera to momentarily deal with the problem at hand.

"So," Aphrodite said to Hera, as they both began to sit back down in their thrones, and blissfully pretend that the awkward scene moments before had never happened. "Why did you choose to stay behind?"

"I was worried about you," Hera reached out to entwine Aphrodite's hand in hers, "the both of us were. It's not like you to appear so down and serious-"

"Ah, right," Aphrodite pouted, "so you're basically saying that I'm a childish person who you don't think can think about serious matters at all?"

"No, sweetheart, that's not it," Hera denied, "Zeus, your father, is just worried about how you haven't come to him about what is bothering you."

"So, in summary," the love goddess concluded, "you both think that I am a person that cannot look after herself and needs a father figure to do things for her instead of me actually accomplishing things myself and being independent?"

"I just think," Hera said calmly, "that you are going through the sort of problems where your father is not the best figure available to advise you. And it is not shameful to ask a person for advice: I constantly ask your opinion on certain details of my life, do I not? Especially when the unity ball approaches and you are in need of my expertise in beauty and fashion."

"But that's because your strength is marriage. It's not a shameful thing for you to not know how certain things work outside that realm of power. Just like father -it's not shameful that I always used to ask for his advice on how to approach all of these financial and political…ish moves when he's the person in charge of running these types of things. I shouldn't automatically know how to do these things! It's not a part of my power. But for other things, I don't think he has a clue where to begin to solve them, so it is completely pointless to go to him for help."

"Alright," Hera breathed in deeply, "there are a lot of issues that you've just brought up. Firstly the realm of power that you govern as a goddess does not necessarily count as your strength. I'll use Dionysus as an example for this.

"People believe that his strength lies in his power to control nature. That is, his vines, his ability to heal madness and several other details that I'll not go into just now. In particular, he is most well known for his wine. But is this creation his greatest strength? I genuinely hope that it is not, as it seems to have done him more harm than good. It has not only affected his physical appearance, but his demeanour which used to be more alive and caring to others, but is now passive and uncaring. This overly consuming pastime of his is what is also responsible for his downfall. This is the thing that caused his love for his wife to temporarily dull enough for him to willingly chase a wandering nymph-more than once, I might add- and get him banished by your father."

"What's your point?" Aphrodite frowned at her.

"My point is," Hera patiently explained, "Dionysus' strength does not lie in his realm alone. Yes, his ability to heal madness is a good attribute to have, but the influence his wine has over him causes him grief as much as good.

"I could also use Athena as an example-"

"Athena?" Aphrodite sniffed, "Athena is so perfect compared to me. She has no faults, and is clearly father's favourite for it."

"Now, now," Hera comforted her, "I do not think this is strictly true. Again, you'd think your sister's greatest strength is her wisdom and her ability to think and behave sensibly. Again, this does her as much harm as it does her good. She is a very different person from you, Ares, Apollo and Hermes as she can very rarely act on what her heart is telling her. What is more, she does not think it is telling her anything of great importance, and will always choose the solution that will prove most beneficial in the end."

"But, what is so wrong with that?" Aphrodite wondered, believing Hera's words were just there to cheer her up.

"Well, because of this she very rarely considers to do things for her own pleasure and enjoyment or for anyone else's for that matter. She is a person who is, at times, dangerously cut off from her emotions, in which she has no true friends that she feels that she can really on wholeheartedly to depend on when she really needs it. Therefore, ironically, in the same way that you and your other siblings are jealous of her for her outwardly perfect manner and the extent that your father relies on her in everyday life, she is also jealous of you all for your close bonds with one another."

"Really?" Aphrodite's eyes widened slightly.

"Yes, really," Hera felt the need to reassure her. "In this way, her greatest strength-which is wisdom- is also her greatest weakness. Do you still think it's shameful that Athena cannot use her wisdom to see that all she has to do to achieve these bonds, that you all seem to have with one another, is to try to reach out to you all and not to be so uptight and sensible?"

"No," Aphrodite thought about it, "I actually feel a little sorry for her."

"So do I," Hera smiled at her. "And for the record, although it can appear at times that Zeus loves her more because of how reliant he is on her skills, when we are alone and there is no one around, the person who he always talks about is you. You were considered to be one of our first children after all. You and Hephaestus, that is."

Aphrodite allowed herself to cry then, whereupon Hera immediately leaned forward to embrace her strongly.

"Now," Hera asked her daughter softly, "what is the matter?"

"I don't know what to do," Aphrodite confessed, her face scrunched up as she tried to stop the tears from racing down her face.

"About what, sweetheart?"

"Hephaestus and Ares," she sighed, "I don't know what to do about them."

"Okay," Hera untangled her arms from the goddess, but continued to hold her hands in hers tightly as a symbol of support and love. "Tell me."

And Aphrodite did. Slowly and unsurely at first, but picking up the pace as she saw Hera's face did not resemble any sort of a sneer or scorn that she was excepting.

Moreover, by the end of the discussion, Aphrodite was eager to hear what the only mother figure in her life truly thought of the subject. However, just has the love goddess was just about to discover what Hera truly thought of Hephaestus, her biological son that she had originally thrown off Mount Olympus for being lame, and Ares, her biological son that she constantly thought was an imbecile and hardly worth her effort and attention, Zeus entered into the room with a tentative knock on the door.

"Uh, hey," he began, as he saw them sitting in close proximity to one another. "Are all our issues sorted now?"

_Don't tell him, please!_ Aphrodite begged to her mother mentally, firmly trying to block the psychic conversation from her father's knowledge.

_But you know you should_, Hera tried to counsel her. _He'll understand-_

_Like heck would he understand_ Aphrodite responded in an even more panicked tone. _He'll think I'm even more stupid and shallow than he does already!_

_Are you truly that scared that he won't continue to love you as much if he knew?_

_Ah, wife?_

_Because I promise you, he won't treat you any less for this decision you are pondering over._

_Daughter?_

_If anything, he would admire you more for finally making the choice that should have been made long ago._

"Is anybody going to answer me?"

_You're finally going to make your own decision on something really big in your life. A change that will define you as the person you now wish to be. He'd love you all the more for it, and I'll even bet he'll take you more seriously from now on because of it. You would no longer have to be in such a jealous rivalry with your sister for his attention. Trust me, Aphrodite,_ Hera begged of her, _just this once? I promise you that you won't regret it?_

_Okay…_

"Okay," Zeus sighed, and he started to walk away, "ignore the big guy why don't you. I'll just come back later when you ladies are done gossiping-"

"Which is actually right now," Hera smiled at him and invited her to sit down in the throne beside her. "I think Aphrodite is ready to talk to you now."

"Alright," Zeus nodded, "so what's wrong, Princess?"

"Well," Aphrodite started nervously, but plunged ahead with an encouraging nod from Hera, "I've got an important decision to make soon."

"Haven't you decided what dress you want to wear to the ball yet, sweetheart?" Zeus asked her innocently.

_You see!_ Aphrodite almost cried at her father's response, _he truly thinks I am that superficial!_

_Talk to him about your feelings_, Hera urged, _prove to him just how deep you can be!_

"No," she stated, "it's a bit more than that."

"No one's threatened you, have they?!" Zeus demanded, rising from his chair with a lightning bolt at the ready. "If they have I will make them suffer an eternity of pain!"

"No, no," she pleaded to her father, "just listen for a minute!"

"Alright," Zeus sat back down, but still had the lightning bolt in his hand for a minute or two longer than necessary –to make sure, of course –before Hera got rid of it herself. "So what's the problem?"

"And don't interrupt this time," Hera warned her husband. "Not until she finishes what she wants to tell you."

"Well," Aphrodite began. "I didn't want to get married to Hephaestus."

"What?!" Zeus demanded, as Hera roughly smacked him at the back of his head. "Why?"

"Because," Aphrodite answered, a little panicked and began to rush through her sentences at an alarming pace, "because I was a lot younger than I was now and I'd just got to grips with my realm of love and beauty, so I didn't really want to be tied down to someone who wasn't, well, beautiful, because that's what I thought beauty meant for all these years! Looking beautiful and talking beautifully and other people thinking you look beautiful and how lovingly a couple you look together—Hephaestus didn't meet any one of my expectations! He-"

"No, no," Zeus interrupted her, "I meant why didn't you tell me beforehand how badly you didn't want to get married to Hephaestus?"

"Well," she sent an anxious look towards her motherly figure, "since Hephaestus didn't grow up around me- and how I was always away exploring the world on the few times he visited you after coming from the forges - had never seen him before. Therefore, when you told me that you had the perfect guy for me to marry, I thought you meant the perfect guy-"

"The perfect guy by your standards," Zeus felt the need to add.

"Yes," Aphrodite added, "the perfect guy by my standards. So naturally I accepted the marriage as I trusted you to know what I was looking for in an immortal partner. I expected a handsome and smart soul mate who would treat me romantically, compliment my appearance and make me even popular than I already was, so I would get invited to even more exclusive circles.

"But Hephaestus was the total opposite of what I had imagined. He was disfigured and socially awkward and preferred to be isolated and away from all the huge parties and the drama. By the time I realised this, it was too late to go back on the marriage, no matter how hard I tried to get out of it. Honestly, I thought you really hated me when you chose him for me to marry, and I could never understand why. You really hurt me. I thought that by making me marry him, you cared about him a lot more than you cared about my happiness. I mean, you never made Athena or Artemis marry anyone. Why single me out in that manner?"

"I never intended to hurt you, darling," he attempted to address her as honestly as he could. "I picked him for you because that's the kind of person I thought you really wanted to be with and would appreciate. It was not because I loved him so much more than you that I wanted him to have the best person available to be him, no matter what the cost. I did it to benefit the both of you. I love you both equally, and for different reasons.

"He needed confidence," Zeus went on, "where you where you were overconfident…sometimes bordering on arrogance. You needed someone truthful and loyal to place your trust in, someone who didn't care to blend in with all your social parties and groups of friends, so that he could give his honest opinion on a topic that was being raised and therefore would never double cross or backstab you to make himself look good. In return, you'd help him to explore the world and all it has to offer, without him living in isolation and missing out on so much of life. He might not be that romantic figure you had always dreamed of marrying, but he was charming and sarcastic in his own way, where he genuinely loved you, and I thought that you'd grow to really love him.

"I did not force you to marry him. I gave you the option to refuse the offer before you accepted, and even urged you to meet with him first beforehand before you agreed to it. But you were so confident in my decision and your power to make any man yours. I am sorry if you thought that you had to accept this persons hand in marriage to make me happy or to prove your love for me, but it does not excuse the fact that you were careless.

"I did not make Athena or Artemis marry anyone, as they were determined to remain maidens for the length of eternity. I did, however, offer a number of possibilities to them throughout all these long years- some of the men had similar personalities to both girls, whilst others held the completely different personalities- like I did with you. I even introduced them to some women on the off chance that they were…you know- now don't you laugh Aphrodite… and you Hera! It wasn't funny!

"But I always had your best interests at heart. You have to believe me when I say, darling," Zeus said, "that I love you, and would never set out to intentionally harm you."

"I know that now," Aphrodite agreed, "but I was rather foolish then. So foolish that-on the night of my wedding- I chose to have sex with the first person that I happened to meet on the way out of our room, just to spite you. That person happened to be Ares."

"So, you don't love Ares?" Zeus questioned her.

"I didn't at the time," Aphrodite said, "but I chose to sleep with him often after that for the same reasons. And in that space of time I grew to love him- even going so far as to bear his children on occasion and to announce him to be my lover in some public occasions."

"Didn't you ever think about Hephaestus' feelings when you did things like this?" Zeus wondered. "Had your relationship with each other developed at all during all of the hundreds of years that you had been married?"

"I just didn't care," Aphrodite replied sadly. "In my own childish way, I blamed him for the fact that I was stuck with him for eternity."

"Though you understand now that it was not his fault that you agreed to it," Zeus prompted her. "And that you were always free to annul the marriage as you had breached the wedding vows that you had vowed to keep in the exact same day?"

"Yes," she replied. "I can comprehend now that it was not his fault that I agreed to marry him. I don't know why I never broke free from that marriage and to choose to be solely with Ares."

"As I had previously stated whilst you were away, husband," Hera interrupted, "this was the main reason which had hindered our relationship and caused me to, temporarily, despise her conduct. For example, I found the way that she treated the vows of marriage that she had swore to abide by as nothing but a bunch of empty words to be mocked and trampled on almost to be an unforgiveable crime that would cancel out all my previous love for her. To break the vows on the same night that she had made them was like a slap in the face not only to me, her mother, but to all that I stood for. It certainly felt that she cared for nobody but her own amusement.

However," Hera carried on, "it was at this point in my life that I had finally began to connect with my lame son for the first time- who had stuck devotedly to the marriage vows that he so solemnly had uttered. I truly admired the way he stuck by you, without any hope of you ever returning your love to him or to lovingly provide him with children. He had reminded me of myself, whereupon I could fully understand his pain of seeing the person he loves lay happily with another person with them taking next to no regard on how you would feel about it. The only reason that he ever slept with all those mortal women was not out of love or lust, but out of the world's need to have his children to protect them from the threats that haunted them. Truly, even though his physical appearance is still appalling to my eyes (which I know realise can be altered if he wishes it to be..and that it truly des not matter one way or the other), he was the son that I so longingly was desperate to have- and only recently, whilst I've been reading these books, do I realise the extent of my love for him. He is kind and he is clever. And over the years he has deserved better than you, my darling."

"I know that now," Aphrodite sobbed bitterly. "While I used to be content with the attention Ares gave me, whenever he went off with another lover of his for a while I used to always go back to Hephaestus side and whine how Ares was never treating me how I thought I deserved to be treated- as if it was Ares I had married and not Hephaestus. So, I guess I never really ended the relationship with him was because he was always there when I needed him when Ares left me or let me down. Sometimes I even enjoyed it when Hephaestus got mad at me for being in love with Ares, as he gave me a target to release all of my rage onto, or to make me feel better because he didn't succeed to wreck my life.

"But for a while now I haven't been quite as content in Ares' company as I once was. Whilst his appearance hasn't altered, nor has his love to appear popular in high society, his bloodlust and his insensitivity towards my feelings and interests has made the relationship seem almost superficial. Especially whilst reading these books, he has appeared obnoxious and childish, while Hephaestus has made himself look charming and kind and willing to do anything for me.

"It's only now," Aphrodite continued, "that I'm seriously considering that my view of love and devotion has been completely wrong. That I thought the person that I fell in love with had to appear like the perfect man, on the inside and on the out- so I always thought in that way, that Ares was my soul mate, but-"

"Hey, family," Apollo announced, as he and the others began to walk back into the room with the others, "how'd the last hour go for you?"

"Yup," Hermes smiled as he headed towards his throne, "let's get reading the next chapter over with then, shall we. With any luck, we should get a lot more done today than yesterday."

"Everyone out," Zeus said calmly not removing his eyes from his daughter.

"But," Persephone protested, feeling a little confused, as Hades attempted to wrap his hands around hers warningly as he began to turn her around to head towards the exit, knowing full well that it was impossible to go against his brother when he was in this state of mind, "you told us to be back in an hour?"

"And now I'm telling you to get lost," Zeus spoke at them in irritation, "until I finally sort things out here."

"But-"

"How long will that tak-"

"OUT!"

Dionysus huffed in annoyance. "Well, make up your bloody mind, old man! Some of us could be doing better things with our time around about now!"

"Oh, really?" Zeus raised his eyebrow sceptically, easily rising to the bait. "Then why don't you use this rare opportunity when you are away from camp to go around and shag yourself a few birds without me having to interfere and stop you!"

"Father!" Athena and Artemis gasped at his crude use of language as the others quickly walked out of the room, knowing not to push him any further.

As the others made sure to drag a shell shocked Dionysus and his daughters away from the scene and out of the room, Zeus had just enough time to mutter distastefully what sounded like, "bloody virgins," before the door closed behind them.

"What?" Zeus frowned as he saw the shocked faces of his wife and daughter fixed upon him. "What? Do I smell?"

"You just chucked Athena and Artemis out of the room," Aphrodite noted, "without giving them a proper explanation of why you've done so."

"Yes. And?"

"You never do that to them!"

"Well," Zeus frowned, "I just did, didn't I?"

"But why?"

"Why?" Zeus was bewildered at the question. "Because I love you, Aphrodite, and I want you to realise that. Now, let's try to resolve all these issues that have been bottled up inside you for all of these years, including all those misunderstandings that you've had about me."

"Don't worry father," Aphrodite smiled as she moved to embrace him tightly, which shocked Zeus slightly, as he had not received one for a number of years, "all those misconceptions have been sorted out now."

"That's good then," Zeus and Hera smiled at their daughter. "Now, tell me, daughter, what do you plan to do about your predicament?"

"You're not angry that I've spent all this time proclaiming to be the goddess of love without actually understanding what it actually means? You're not going to take it away from me? Or scream at me for abusing your biological son the way I've done?"

"I've already said that I love all my children in equal amounts, and for different reasons," Zeus reminded her gently. "As for your control over the realm of love and beauty, yes you have made many mistakes and have been shallow and spiteful at times, and generally taken too long to learn your lesson, and…"

_Zeus!_ Hera mentally yelled at him to quit while he was ahead. _You are not succeeding to reassure her at all, or successfully pointing her in the right direction!_

"But the fact that you have now realised, or at least have begun to realise, the true meaning of your realm, you can only develop positively from here. This is just the beginning. By simply dealing with your own love life you have shown me that you have definite potential to be mature and sensible woman, and I am proud of you for taking all these issues into your own hands like this. I simply want you to remember all these things you have learnt in your struggle, and to work on treating other people in a better, and a more humane light."

"I will, father," Aphrodite smiled at him, finally glad to have all these heartfelt compliments drift her way, and was determined work harder to make her father see the full extent of how helpful she could be when she put her mind to it.

"So," her father still felt the need to ask, "have you decided which gentleman you will settle down with now and try build properly beautiful life with?"

"Yes, father, I have," Aphrodite sighed, "and I'm just so frustrated with myself for not giving him a proper chance before now."

"And you are sure this is the place where you belong?" Hera smiled at her daughter.

"Yes, I am," she gave a small smile back to her. "After all, father's now best, don't they?"

"Ah,.." Hera was at a loss for words there, as her own father had in fact eaten her in order try to stop them from overpowering him when they matured.

_Just say yes, my love,_ Zeus rolled his eyes at her. _Or don't you want our daughter to learn how to be mature and rational at all?_

"Yes, darling," she smiled sweetly at her, and the three of them embraced once more, just happy that they finally understood just how each other was feeling about the other.

"And when are you going to tell Ares that it is completely over," Zeus prompted her, "that you will never again share the pleasure of each others bed?"

"Before this book is done," Aphrodite vowed to her father, "Ares will know exactly how I feel and where my heart will truly lie from now on."

"If you wanted," Hera suggested, "since you had destroyed completely your previous marriage vows with your lack of feeling and deeds later on in the night…, I am willing –for just this _one_ time- to renew your marriage vows.: to make this truly a new start for both of you."

"You would?" Zeus raised his eyebrows. "You're normally so strict on these kinds of matters. What happens inside the marriage cannot be undone or changed, that's what you normally say.."

"This is a one time deal," Hera sighed painfully, "though it does hurt me a little to suggest it, I still owe my son a great deal. Also, I want you girl," she stared hard at her daughter, "to prove to me how much your word mean. I want this marriage to work, and if this remarriage of sorts will help it to develop and prosper, I will do all that I am able to make sure that it succeeds."

"I'll do my best," Aphrodite promised, "to treat others the way I wish to be treated."

"See that you do," Hera stood up and walked towards the throne room doors. "I had better let them in now, had I not? Otherwise they might get worried that something is not right."

"Go ahead," Zeus settled comfortably in his throne and smiled, "we would not want them to get worried at all."

"Hey everyone," Aphrodite greeted her family as they entered the throne room. "How did your break go?"

"Meh," Hermes settled down, "what's the next chapter called?"

"I plunge to my death," Demeter read as she passed it to Chiron.

"Thrilling," Ares commented, "I wouldn't mind giving it a read then."

"Well tough," Athena scoffed at him. "You know that we've already decided to let Chiron lead again."

"That's right," Hephaestus backed her up, "so let us just get on with reading the next chapter."

"Yup," Apollo grinned, "let's go!"


	19. Aphrodite and Athena

_**(A.N. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Since I also perform as a beta reader it takes me longer than I would like to focus on my own fanfictions. Hope you like it **____**.)**_

**Chapter 19 – Aphrodite and Athena**

"Alright," Persephone sighed, "let's get this over with."

"I plunge to my death," Poseidon cursed, "how this chapter can state this fact in such a straightforward way I'll never know. Doesn't the person who wrote this care, one way or the other, if Percy dies or not?"

"I wouldn't get so worked up about the title of the chapter just yet," Hephaestus stated to his uncle, though was swiftly interrupted by Poseidon's furious gaze.

"How can you say such a thing!" the sea god yelled. "Don't you care about my son at all?"

"The title does sound," Demeter added worryingly, "to be open and very final about the subject. I can't see how any double meanings could be issued to the sentence here…"

"But," Athena supported the smith god's observations, "Hephaestus' words are also sensible in their own way."

"How do you mean?" Aphrodite struggled to see the facts that she, and many others in the throne room, had succeeded to miss and yet these two had managed to pick up on.

"Yes," Poseidon's glare slowly lessened upon the wisdom goddess' words, knowing that she would always give her opinion based on factual elements, and not her emotions.

"Well," Athena began, "although it is stated that this book was written by my son, it is written in your child's perspective."

"And your point is?"

Athena sighed to herself once, before going on to explain her findings. "Just as I earlier suggested that it would not make any sense for the main character –whose name is very clearly and strongly stated in the title, I might add- to die this early on in the book, almost the same issue applies here. Although, technically, any one of the characters can now perish from this point onwards, it still seems to be too early in the novel for the main character to die and leave the storyline."

"But," Hades pointed out, sounding as equally reasonable as his niece, "this novel that was written by your son has not been written for the purpose to provide anyone with entertainment. That means, Athena," Hades continued, hopelessly unaware of the negative atmosphere that was quickly being created by his ominous speech, "that the novel does not hold any commitments to make any kind of grammatical sense, nor does it hold any responsibility to follow the structure that most novels do. This is a real historical account from the future. Therefore, anything can happen to the characters at any time. They might all survive to see the end, or they might all die within the next five seconds. There is no guarantee at all for their safety, or for them to have a happy ending."

"Sweetheart," Persephone tried to whisper in her husband's ear, as she continued to glance anxiously towards Poseidon's paling face. "Maybe you should turn it down a notch…"

"Moreover," Hades ploughed onwards, "there are a total of five books here with us presently. For all we know each one could revolve around a different set of demigods after the previous ones have been horribly slaughtered-"

"Darling," Persephone attempted to stop him from continuing, as the sea god continued to sink into this throne, "please just sto-"

"Although the title is called," Hades went on with his point, oblivious to the distress he was causing by his words, "_Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief_, it does not automatically provide him with a safe passage. In reality he is an untrained demigod who is forced to face dangers that the most experienced of heroes would probably fail to succeed. There is nothing stopping him from dying in the next few moments and having the other demigods to complete the quest in his heroic honour."

"Seriously, honey," Persephone groaned, "I think that's enough…"

"Or, although this chapter will display his tragic demise from this world, the boy may still continue on to be helpful in his own way. For example, he might be able to collect himself enough emotionally to help the demigods out in his ghostly form after his death. As in this way," Hades finished, "they have a realistic way to reach and explore the underworld to be able to prove my innocence, hopefully discover who is behind this theft and will ultimately be able to return my helm of darkness back into my hands."

As Persephone buried her head into her hands, Demeter anxiously turned to check on Poseidon's wellbeing.

"Goodness me," she cried out in surprise, "he's fainted!"

"Well, duh!" Dionysus mumbled, as he completed yet another level on his latest entertainment system, "People tend to react in extremities when they are upset over something, you know."

"Then fix him!" Demeter demanded of him as she sent his game crashing out of his hands, "that is what you do, isn't it?"

"Fine," Dionysus shuffled slowly towards his uncle. "But just for the record," Dionysus grinned maliciously at her, "I will be telling him when he wakes up that you think he's a crazed individual who needs psychological advice."

"What? And when exactly did I say that, you swine?" she asked him in outrage.

"By choosing me over Apollo to heal him, of course!"

"But-"

"Haha," Apollo laughed, "he got you there, aunt!"

Please," Athena sighed, after the revival of her uncle had been dealt with. "Can we please move on to the matter at hand now?"

"And Poseidon," Hephaestus muttered, wanting to clearly get his point across, "as I said before, try not to take the matter too much to heart. The chances of him truly dying in this chapter are remote, for the reasons that Athena has just recently stated. Additionally," he continued, gruffly, "each chapter of the book has been written, so far, in his perspective. That means, we should assume that this style of writing will continue to at least the end of the first books. As long as this perspective is still in effect, Percy remains to be alive. And yes," he continued, "although, as Hades has stated, this is real life and things could easily change- the books were written after these events had taken place. Which means the author has to have known the fates of these characters before even beginning to contemplate writing about them? And by the way the author has paced this book; I honestly don't think Percy will lose his life just yet."

"But," Apollo felt the need to add, "It's not that I want to be the person to put a downer on things, but books have been known to change perspectives, and to alternate between one character and another. Therefore, there is truly nothing to stop Percy dying here, and leaving the book continue in Annabeth's or Grover's, or even Little Joe-Bob who lives down the road from where the action is taking place's perspective to take over."

"Little Joe-Bob?" Artemis' raised her eyebrows and chose to look upon him in amusement.

"What? It could be a real name!"

"In your dr-"

"Anyway," Hephaestus continued, his eyes rolling from the previous statement, "yes, that could happen, but you still have to remember that it is also the author's job to preset the book in a fluid and consistent manner. Though he could very well have chosen to alternate between perspectives, he would have done it in a well-presented manner, such as every other chapter, or one half of the book from one person's perspective and the rest from the other. Or he could have constructed an epilogue or even the final paragraph in the point of view of someone else in the event that Percy does die in the final chapter. But he wouldn't have done it randomly. The book seems too well constructed for that. And though the words and descriptions that are used throughout it are questionable, it is done constantly and is therefore acceptable."

"Plus," Athena smiled at Hephaestus, "since the book is full of so much exaggeration, this plunge into death could simply be another example of it. Truly this can be-"

"Alright," Zeus had reached his limit of his patience, "that's enough of all this over analysing business."

"But," Athena frowned. "I thought the point of us reading these books was for us to analyse them as we go along, isn't it?"

"Well," Zeus admitted slowly, "yes, but-"

"Therefore," Athena's frown deepened, "this is why you see us all debating and commenting on the text's action and style. In demonstrating a deep and thorough analyse of every chapter, we are better able- by the end of the five books- to understand their content and thus will have a better understanding of the future."

"Yes, but-"

"And through understanding the future that this group of demigods are from, we are better able to discover whether or not the future that we will create is positive or negative. Furthermore, if –and this is the most probable outcome if demigods and god's were willing to break the law of sending something back in time to warn us about what is going on – the future is negative, we must realise why it is negative, how it was made negative, and when exactly it was made to be negative. This is why, father, a thorough analysis is ideal. Is it not?"

"I concede to that point," Zeus frowned at her, "if you concede to mine. Try to keep analysis of each chapter to the end of each chapter. Otherwise, it would take us an age to complete these texts and who knows what could befall our temporary replacements –who have been so generous as to allow us this time to be together as a family to read these novels. And lastly, NEVER interrupt me again, daughter!"

"Yes," Ares nodded, "let's just read the damn thing already before I start to regret leaving work to be here."

"For me," Hermes smiled, leaning back comfortably in his throne, "that is never going to happen. I haven't had a proper holiday from work in centuries."

"I know," Apollo grinned, "it's great seeing you more often."

"And I –"

"Right," Chiron lowered his head and began to read.

**We spent two days on the ****Amtrak train****,**

"Nothing too dangerous to note there," Hestia spoke up, smiling at her brother.

"Except the outstanding cost," Dionysus retaliated, "of the bloody thing."

"Now, Dionysus," Hera warned him, though he casually brushed her off.

"What?" he demanded, "you know it's true."

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean that you can continue to use that kind of language here. It is uncalled for."

"It sounds dead boring though," Ares sighed, "I wouldn't like to spend two full days on the train."

"Especially with nothing to occupy their attention apart from conversation with each other," Hermes agreed, as Hera had a sudden thought which made everyone wince in her direction.

"What?" she regally defended herself as the majority of the room began to groan tiredly. "It would be a good family bonding experience and a chance for all of us to open up and trust in one another more-"

"But you forget," Athena interrupted her train of thought, "that we are constantly in the company of one another. We sit here in the throne room, for example, for numerous hours each day-"

"Pfft, I wish," Apollo and Hermes scoffed at her.

"I'm always busy in the day, sis," Apollo turned to reminded his sister who, in turn, began to glare moodily at him. "Although you, Aphro, Ares and a bunch of others may spend long amounts of time here, I'm out every day and all day making sure that the sun is sailing across the sky... even though I may be late in doing so every once in a while-"

"All *cough* winter," Artemis stated which, although raised a few chuckles, was lost in the truth Apollo was trying to convey. "So I don't have any time for family fun."

"At least you have the night to relax though," Hermes grumbled, "I'd swap jobs with you gladly! Whilst you can party away in the night, I'm constantly away delivering mail to people that I couldn't care less about. So there's no playing happy family for me, either."

"But," Apollo raised the point, "at least you get to meet loads of interesting people at your job! I have to spend the majority of mine on my own, so I get lonely a lot."

"There is a little truth to your words brother," Artemis confided truthfully to her family, "there are times that my responsibility can feel like a heavy burden to bear, where I've lately wished I had more helpers with me to lessen the burden. Besides," the moon goddess continued, "I've always preferred the comfort of the forest and my maidens to that of men and the city. Therefore, I do confess that I do not spend as much time as I could spend here on Olympus, as I only return here when there's only a true need for my presence."

"Sadly," Poseidon, although desperate to discover the fate that awaited his son, felt the need to contribute to the discussion, "I am often similarly busy with dealing with the responsibilities and duties that arises from my underwater realm. So much so that at this current time I feel that it is impossible to remain here, on Olympus, for any long stretch of time. However, no matter what, I still love this side of my family as much as I love the family that I currently reside with. It's just…I always feel a little uncomfortable in visiting you all here, even when I do have the free time. It does not feel as easy to talk to you all as it once was. I feel as if we have grown too far apart as of late…"

"And," Persephone added, "It's not like I can spend a lot of time here, as I'm duty bound to remain in the underworld for the half of each year. And in the past, when I was free for the other half to do whatever I wanted I always felt the need to spend the time with my mother amongst the all the bright and beautiful meadows that could be found on Earth. I guess I've never really thought about how little time I've really spent with the family. I feel a little bad now that I never used to want to waste the precious free time that I had away in the throne room with you guys."

"And _I_," Hades fumed angrily at them all, "am only ever invited here once or twice a year! _And_ I don't even have a throne here for the short amount of time that I am welcome here!"

"Hades," Zeus began to sigh."I'm really-

"_Hypocrites!" _

Hera, for a moment, was content to observe the clouded faces that had appeared throughout the room because of her revelation.

"Do you understand now, Athena?" she addressed her daughter, as well as the rest of the room's occupants. "Though you do sometimes spend a lot of time here in the throne room, that doesn't mean everyone does. And whilst the few of us that do have the time to spend time here in the same company as one another, nothing much is said or done. We simply waste the little free time that we have away. Therefore, I really suggest that we now take the time to all sit down together as a family in the future, much like we are doing now, to just simply get to know each other better and to do fun things together, not just meet because our duties as gods and goddesses force us to."

"It would be nice," Zeus thought about it, "to spend time together now and then because we want to be together, and not just because we're forced."

"Does that mean you'll rescind my banishment?" Dionysus asked hopefully, and Zeus just chuckled.

"Not quite, son."

"But what kind of things would we do together?"Artemis asked warily.

"And would we have permission," Hermes asked hopefully, "to hire more staff to help us manage our duties better so it will allow us to have more free time?"

"I don't see the harm," Zeus mused, "of what a few extra member of staff would do: especially as we're now relying on them to temporarily look after everything for us whilst we're reading these books."

"And," Hera finished, "we could alternate in the activities that we could do together, seeing as everyone here likes to do different things. We can take it in turns whose turn it would be to make the decision."

Everyone suddenly began talking excitedly.

"I have missed you, dude," Apollo called to Hermes, grinning madly. "Before these readings we never really had the time to laze around and just act as brothers should do. I really couldn't have stood this to change when the books will end."

"And now, luckily," Hermes returned the smile to him, "it probably wouldn't have to."

Chiron meanwhile, was slowly and silently absorbing everything that was being discussed in the throne room eagerly. Without warning then, he carried on with the reading.

**heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.**

**We weren't attacked once, **

"At least that's something, I guess," Hestia stated quietly.

"It's still early yet," Artemis rolled her eyes.

**but I didn't relax.**

**I felt that we were travelling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.**

"Do you think he's really sensing people watching him?" Persephone raised the question as the youngest and the most inexperienced of the group. "Or is it just paranoia."

"Most probably a bit of both," Apollo answered. "He shouldn't be able to actually sense people watching him from afar, as it's just simply not one of his powers- although, he does tend to have some powerful prophetic dreams now and again. It's mixed with the truth then as he's basically been told that all these different groups of beings – whether they mean him harm or not - are either searching for him or watching him, like he suspects we are right now, to see just exactly what he does. That is, to see whether he does actually have the bolt of not. Because if people were actually watching him, it would explain all the bad things that have been happening to him…especially with the whole lightning attack thing that has a tendency of happening to him."

"Which I have apologised for," Zeus sent a quick glance to his brother.

"And just for the record," Demeter said, "none of us here, I'm certain, wishes the boy any harm at all."

"The boy may be an annoying moron," Ares admitted, "but he kind of grows on you. He's an interesting kid to keep around you."

"Thanks," Poseidon responded, "I guess…"

**I tried to keep a low profile**

The throne room erupted with laughter.

"Pfft," Dionysus snorted, "good luck with that!"

"After noting all the accidents that he seemed to have at his schools," Hephaestus smiled in amusement, "I truly don't think that's possible for someone like him."

"His emotions are too wild and uncontrollable," Athena felt the need to agree once again with the smith go, "just like his father."

"I'll take that as a compliment then," Poseidon thanked her sweetly.

"You would…"

**because my name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. **

"Oh yeah," Aphrodite remembered. "I'd managed to forget how much of a deal this actually was…he really doesn't need all this to deal with at the moment. Not on top of everything else that's going on in his life."

"That's certainly true," Hephaestus muttered under his breath, which caused the love goddess to form a small smile.

_Everything will soon be alright… _

**The **_**Trenton Register-News**_** showed a photo taken by a tourist as I got off the Greyhound bus. I had a wild look in my eyes. **

A few chuckles swept through the room.

"Probably from those magic mushrooms," somebody sniggered in the background with a little consideration to appreciate the actual danger that Percy had been in at the time, but at the same time not totally respectful and fair.

"Aw," Hestia sighed at her family, feeling a little sorry for the boy. "Don't be so mean!"

"Especially," Chiron added suddenly, "when I'm sure that the book is intending to portray him here in a sympathetic light."

"Just carry on," Zeus commanded, and the centaur did so at once.

**My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick. **

"Hey wait," Ares frowned for a second. "Isn't lacrosse a sport for girls?"

"I'm not entirely sure, to be totally honest with you," Artemis frowned at the war god's train of thought. "Why?"

"I think it is," Apollo seemed to consider it for a moment. "I'm sure that's the sport that all those used to play in those Twins at St. Clare's books that Enid Blyton always used to write about."

"And how the hell do you know that?" Ares raised his eyebrows at the sun god in near disbelief of his reading habits, as Athena chuckled in disbelief at Apollo's reading habits.

"Its my job to keep tabs on famous writers," Apollo answered the war god seriously, "to make sure that none of them try to copy anything that I've successfully written-"

"-not a lot then," Dionysus stated casually, as Apollo glowered darkly at him in return.

"But, that's not good," Hermes gasped as he returned to the matter at hand, "they'll all think he's a lunatic!"

"Aw, come on!" Artemis frowned at him. "Don't you think you're exaggerating just a little bit over the situation?"

"The horror!"

"Grow up!" Artemis snapped at him. "Everyone should be allowed to do what they want to do –gender shouldn't define what you should and shouldn't do!"

"Um, I'm sorry," Apollo put one hand against his ear, "what was that you just said?"

"I said," Artemis almost shouted, "that it shouldn't matter what gender you are: you should be able to do what you want to…"

Artemis suddenly stopped and refused to make another comment for a while, as her twin continued to stare knowingly at her.

"Besides," Athena felt the need to add, "not only are there around four different types of lacrosse to be had, men are also allowed to-"

"Less talk, more reading," Ares interrupted her and the reading began once again.

"Thanks for that." Poseidon winced.

**The picture's caption read:**

_**Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers.**_

"Wow," Persephone whispered softly, "he really does have the worst luck."

Hades moved to comfort her, by slowly wrapping his arms tightly around her.

_**The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness **__**accounts**__**,**__** police believe the boy may be travelling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.**_

"This is outrageous!" Poseidon yelled angrily. "I swear on the River Styx that this man will get what he deserves!"

Thunder also rumbled loudly throughout the room.

"Although he must be missing his car," Demeter frowned, "and possibly Percy's mother who's been treated as more of a maid than a wife, but I don't see why he would be interested in Percy at all now, let alone offer money –which we all know he doesn't have- in return for information about him."

"I think it's rather obvious," Ares felt the need to point out, "he's doing it in attempt to re-establish the control that he had over the boy when Percy was in his care. It's always about power with these types of characters. By running away Percy has challenged his authority. And whilst I doubt he'd mind the action so much if Sally was still around to act like a servant to him –I honestly think he'd actually prefer that scenario –by running away with her, Percy's managed to screw up everything for him. By retrieving the boy, this pig could re-establish his control over the boy, as well as punish him harshly for his insolence.

"More importantly," Ares continued, "he actually needs Percy to be caught to find out where his mother is. Sally, that is, was the one who was providing and supporting him financially, whilst also giving him a home to stay in. By now he'll be desperate to have her back, or else he'll be chucked out of the house for not being able to pay the bills, like the pathetic bum that he is."

Everyone just stared at Ares, their eyes completely surprised at the depth of his speech.

"Wow, Ares," Apollo managed to say, "I guess you're not just a pretty face, aren't you?"

"I have my moments," Ares said simply, as he waited for Chiron to carry on.

Zeus, meanwhile, couldn't help but glance at Aphrodite once again, wondering what kind of pattern her thoughts were forming from the result of his son's observations.

In all honesty, Zeus truly loved his son, and thought that one day he'd turn into a mature person, who was as equally respected as Athena. Although he did succeed in having moments of brilliance, such as now for example, he also had moments which almost resembled total destruction. It was in this light that a lot of people who came from outside the family thought that Ares would be a far better match for his daughter, Aphrodite, than her actual husband, Hephaestus would ever have been. Both had moments of brilliance, but both still had a way to go before they could be properly known to be mature and sensible.

And that's how Zeus knew that these two together could never hope to be happy in the long run. Not only did the both of them hold strong tendencies that could easily lead them to become overly emotional and therefore, had the strong possibility to harm each other as much as they could love, but they were simply after two completely different things. Whilst Aphrodite was a dreamer and an ideologist who wished for someone strong and loving to always be there for her to protect and support her, Ares was more of a realist and preferred is women to be much less clingy and more independent. Separate, the both of them could be good friends. But together the relationship could only end in disaster.

_Please make the right choice,_ Zeus almost begged of her, _and prove to me how much you've really grown up over these past few years like you're always so desperate to get me to notice…_

"**Don't worry," Annabeth told me. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.**

"Have they been trained yet," Demeter asked Dionysus curiously, "to learn to operate the mist to their own advantage?"

"Uh," Dionysus couldn't help but wince as his eyes connected almost immediately to his father's disappointed ones. "Not yet, I'm afraid."

"Well," Hera started to rant, but upon noticing his downcast gaze, she decided to be lenient, "make sure it is one of he first things that you teach them at camp when you return there after we have finished reading these books."

"Okay, Hera," he sighed, thankful that she had not attempted to lecture him too severely as she had previously loved to do.

**The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows.**

"How…boring." Apollo grimaced, as Chiron rolled his eyes at the god's overly simplistic response.

**Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across the wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. **

"Aw," the female goddess' smiled at the scene that was pictured before them.

"That sounds so cute and lovely," Persephone grinned happily at the image. "Do you have any idea who they are, Chiron?"

"Aw, come on, little sis," Apollo rolled his eyes at her naivety. "How is Chiron supposed to know who they are without their names being given to us? There's quite a lot of centaurs living in this world too you know. Its like me asking you if you knew every ghost who happens to be in the underworld at the moment. Also-"

"It was only a question," Persephone blushed deeply, "I was just wondering if they were a part of the Party Ponies or not."

"Why would you want to know that?" Hades asked his wife warily, knowing the inappropriate way some people felt for certain members of the group.

"Because they're awesome!" she exclaimed excitedly, which only succeeded in provoking Hades and Apollo even further.

"Oh, yeah?" Apollo raised his eyebrow suggestively. "And why is that, exactly?"

"Yes," Hades scowled at her jealously, "what's so special about them?!"

"Oh, there's a lot more than just one reason," Persephone giggled happily as Hades skin paled and Apollo burst out laughing, before launching herself deeply into the topic at hand.

As Persephone continued to make the situation worse and worse for herself, Chiron began to feel a little frustrated and quickly read on.

**The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.**

**Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sword it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer.**

"Is that…?" Hera asked. Athena nodded in confirmation.

Poseidon began to turn a little blue, hoping that the deadly threat which awaited his son in this chapter had nothing to do with this particular monster…

**Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone. Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. **

"Aw, come on," Hermes sighed at the trio. "Are they really such bad liars that they can't talk their way out of paying for some measly little train tickets?"

"Maybe Grover should have talked the dog into running away a few more times for them," Ares suggested, "if they were that in need of money."

"They probably just don't have the time for that," Chiron answered him. "After all, they've only got a set number of days to complete their quest."

"Better waste a few more hours gathering money for the proper train journey," Hephaestus pointed out, "than wasting a couple of days trying to make up the time."

**We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. **

"That's too bad," Persephone sighed, as Hades began to massage her hands slightly, "I bet they're going to be so stiff when they wake up-"

**My neck got stiff.**

"See?"

"I doubt they slept too much," Hestia sighed, "even if they had slept in beds. The amount of pressure that they are under at this moment is almost unbelievable."

**I tried not to drool in my sleep, since Annabeth was sitting right next to me.**

"Well," Poseidon tried to keep a straight face as Athena turned to glare at him, "at least he's trying to be considerate?"

"Urgh…"

**Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up.**

Zeus glowered once again at the image of the satyr.

"Husband," Hera sighed as she noticed his eyes darkening, "we have spoken about this issue once already."

"I –" Zeus sighed, as Hera quickly interrupted him.

"Even if you think he's irritating and annoying," Hera allowed, "you must learn to forgive him in order to fully concentrate on the future."

"Will you at least begin to think of him in another light?" Demeter asked him.

"And besides," Chiron replied, "forgiving someone is not the same as beginning to like them. Therefore, even if you truly detest Grover you are still capable of accepting his flaws and forgiving him."

"Plus," Persephone added, "it wasn't his fault that it happened in the first place. He did his best to protect her-"

"Guys, guys, guys," Zeus sighed at them, "what are you all going on about?"

"But," Demeter frowned, "you-"

"And why are all of you ganging up on me?!"

"That was not our intention, " Chiron stammered, "we were just-"

"I mean," Zeus glared at them all, "I hadn't even said anything!"

"We're sor-"

"Just because I was a little annoyed at Percy being deprived of some much needed rest you all feel the need to lecture me by bringing up topics that are totally irrelevant!"

"I-"

"I'm not a drama queen!" Zeus raged, "stop portraying me as one!"

"Okay…"

There was silence for a few moments.

**Once, he shuffled **

Poseidon grinned widely at Zeus who, in return, stated at him warily.

**around and his fake foot fell off. **

Poseidon then winked at Zeus mischievously, as the others continued to discuss the chapter as normal. Zeus began to frown.

**Annabeth and I had to **

"Alright," snapped Zeus, who had had enough of his brothers, worrisome, childishness. "What have you done?"

"I haven't done anything," Poseidon smirked and rolled his eyes at Zeus' suggestion.

"Then what are you going to do to me?" Zeus retaliated quickly. "I know you too well."

"I'm not doing to do anything," the sea god protested happily. "Or at least I have nothing planned."

"Then why do you keep staring at me," Zeus fumed, "as if you have something horrid in store for me?!"

"He, he," Poseidon chuckled. "You just admitted you like my son."

"Don't you deny it!-..uh, what?"

"You lovvve him," Poseidon sang happily, gloating at Zeus' face of disgust and horror at the amount he was gloating.

"Now shush, you guys," Apollo sighed, "we're trying to hear about the satyr doing stupid things!"

Zeus and Poseidon instantly paid attention again.

"**stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.**

"Um," Zeus and Poseidon wore identical masks of confusion as the rest of the room's occupants began to laugh hard at the description of events."What's going on?"

"Is something broken?" Poseidon frowned anxiously, as the laughter suddenly stopped as all eyes turned to gaze at the brothers. "Is everyone alright?"

"Seriously?" Artemis scowled at them both, uncaring if Zeus was her father, "you did not listen to that at all?"

The two gods simply stared sheepishly at the floor.

"Um.."

"Unbelievable," Dionysus rolled his eyes as he laid aside the current magazine that was in his hands.

Zeus spluttered, "you're one to talk!"

"Hey," the wine god counteracted, feeling seriously annoyed at the treatment that his father was giving him. "What happened to your promise to stop instantly blaming or punishing me unfairly or before you know all the facts? And, for your information," Dionysus continued as he observed the slight sunken expression that crossed his father's face, "Just because I'm read or it appears that I'm reading –or focusing on something other than what I'm supposed to be focusing on- doesn't mean that my attention strays from the most important thing here. Let's just say I'm a born multi-tasker."

"I apologise," Zeus addressed his son quietly, but honestly.

"I understand," Dionysus, unusually, tried to reason with his father, "that because I am younger than the majority of the beings in this room that you believe that I'm childish –or at least I can't, or won't, think and take things as seriously as the others do. But I can. So just don't try to stereotype me, or single my unusual behaviour out from a crowd of others that are behaving as equally bad as I am-"

"So nothing dangerous happened?" Poseidon pressed, having interrupted such an awkward moment to attempt to move the tale along.

"Nothing bad happened," Hestia smiled up at him reassuringly.

"Though Grover's in the middle of screwing up again," Apollo admitted, as he told the two what they had missed.

"**So," Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"**

"Huh?"

"**What do you mean?" **

"Yes, what do you mean?" Hermes asked in confusion as he stared questioningly towards Athena.

"The most probable reason," she answered briefly, "which has appeared just a short span of time ago, is that my daughter was referring to the boy's prophetic vision."

"**When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"**

"Spooky," Apollo mock whispered.

"Oh, not again!" Poseidon groaned at the book's reminder of the harsh threat that is –would be- after his son."

"I know," Apollo smiled at his uncle, as Athena scowled at him in annoyance, "her spooky accuracy is freaky, isn't it?"

As Poseidon raised a confused eyebrow towards Apollo's direction, Chiron began reading once again.

**I was reluctant to say anything. **

Groaning could be heard throughout the room.

"And this is how," Hermes shook his head sadly, "stupid people in horror and supernatural films die."

**It was the second time I'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit.**

"But," Demeter reasoned, "would Annabeth really have believed him if he'd said that?"

"Probably not," Artemis thought, "she doesn't seem the type to trust in males that easily. Especially when he has no facts or evidence at all to support his claim. She might think that he's just dreaming."

"But," Hephaestus interrupted, "she is also a demigod. Although she would, almost automatically, categorise everything in levels of importance so that she can focus her attention on where its most needed, I believe that she wouldn't simply ignore it. She's too experienced in the supernatural world to just ignore it."

"And my son is not stupid," Poseidon defended Percy, "he's just new to this way of life. I think that though he really doesn't want to bother her with something that could turn out to be his overactive imagination, he will probably tell her anyway, just to make sure. Or, at least, to get it off his mind."

**But it bothered me so much I finally told her.**

"Guess you were right, uncle P," Ares nodded, as Poseidon smiled briefly at succeeding to get to know his son better.

**Annabeth was quiet for a long time.**

"She's thinking about it," Apollo grinned at Athena, who smiled in return.

**"That doesn't sound like Hades. **

"YES!" Hades all but shouted, "now continue in this mindset!"

"Dude," Ares stared at his uncle. "You do know that you are talking to a book, don't you?"

Hades' dark mood swallowed the room.

**He always appears on a black throne, **

"Maybe we should spice that up a bit, darling?" Persephone tried to cheer her husband up as she wrapped her arms around him tightly."Black can be a nice shade of darkness in a bright room, but it just appears dark and depressing if it's used constantly. And the design now is so hold fashioned-"

"But I like-" Hades began to protest but was swiftly interrupted.

"We won't be going too drastic with it," she promised, "as it is your throne and it must represent you and your realm. I just think it's time for a little modernisation or a tiny splash of colour, that's all. We are remodelling the down stairs of the palace now, after all."

"I'll think about it…"

**and he never laughs."**

"I do too laugh!" Hades looked affronted.

"When?" Artemis raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Sometimes…"

"Nice and specific I see, uncle," Athena sighed, as a few others chuckled.

"Sure," Ares laughed, "we'll believe it when we see it!"

"He does!" Persephone tried to defend him. "Lately he's been smiling and stuff way more than he used to –and before all he used to give was this weird twisted grin that always managed to creep you ou-"

"Your point?" Hades pushed her, as she began to back track.

"But the point is," she concluded, "that now, because he's happier, he's been much more open. And as a result of being more open and carefree he laughs from time to time."

"And how come we haven't seen it?" Demeter questioned them suspiciously, her eyes focused on her brother.

"Well, it normally happens during se-"

"That's enough," Hades covered his wife's mouth quickly. Ha ha ha, see? I can laugh. Ha. Ha. Ha. Move on now. Please. Ha?"

"**He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"**

"A number of people, really," Athena began to list. "Such as the infamous-"

As she droned on and on, the other began to feel extremely tired and uncomfortable. However, not wishing to say anything that might upset her, the majority had attempted to retreat into themselves and to keep quiet for the time being.

"Okay," Hermes yawned after a while, "thanks for that sis, but we really need to move on now…"

"Hmph…"

"**I guess… if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' **

Hades slapped his hands over his eyes as he slumped back into his chair.

_That's it! I give up!_

**If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"**

**I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer. I thought about what Grover had told me, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something.**

_**Where is it? Where?**_

**Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head.**

**Annabeth readjusted his cap so it covered his horns. **

"Seriously," Hermes sighed in aggravation towards the satyr. "Someone has got to help this satyr to learn the basics of espionage and subtlety."

"Seriously," Hera retaliated, "how can you think of the satyr's future failings when you are faced with this dark threat here in this chapter that's all but jumping in your face?"

"Seriously," Apollo felt the need to further emphasise the word, "why is the goat dude dreaming of vegetables?"

Hera sent him a dark look as Chiron read on.

**"Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, **

"He's not so deceitful!" Persephone protested, as the others could only scoff.

"You realise," Demeter frowned at her daughter, "that the two of you got married through his deceitfulness?"

"But-"

"Or how he keeps trying to portray himself as poor," Hermes squinted, "every time he looses at gambli- uh," as he saw Hera's disapproving face, "well, anything in an attempt not to pay his debts?"

"Or the times when he-"

"But he's not like that anymore!" Persephone protested. "Not since we've started reading the books!"

"But," everyone was surprised when it was Aphrodite who tried to demonstrate the voice of reason, "it's been less than a week, hun. It's fabulous seeing you together, acting like perfect soul mates to one another, but the change may not be permanent. You'll have to work as you are –open and willing to trust each other fully- for a longer period of time before you can make statements like that..."

As Chiron began to read slowly on, most of the room's attention was focused on the goddess of love and, this time, they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw.

_Maybe there's a chance…_

**heartless, and greedy.**

"I'm not _that_ bad!" Hades cried, working his way into a temper tantrum.

"He may just a little greedy, and just a tad deceitful, but I wouldn't say he's heartless," Athena defended her uncle, who accepted the comment after a moment's hesitation.

"You know," Persephone raised the issue, "although you're all related to him, you don't really know anything about him at all do you? I mean, what you've just said, sister, is what any average mortal could have said about him after knowing the legends. He's a lot deeper and caring than you all give him credit for. You should try to find out, sometime, what he's really like…"

**I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time—"**

"**This time?" I asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"**

"Sorry," Hades apologized before anyone could open their mouths to scold him, which made each of them feel a little guiltier for the way that they had –have been- portraying and treating their uncle/brother.

**Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."**

"**What would you do if it was your dad?"**

"**That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot."**

"Annabeth!" Athena scolded, sounding genuinely upset at the development that had occurred in the relationship between the two of them, "how could you say such a thing?"

"**You're not serious?"**

"Surely she can't mean that," Demeter tried to comfort her, as Hermes turned still and stared at the floor. "They're bonded by blood after all. She – no child - would abandon a parent in their time of need, regardless of how bad the relationship is going right now."

"They would," Hermes commented ominously as Hera and Demeter angrily turned towards his direction.

"Hermes!" Hera demanded outraged, "how dare you say such a thing towards your sister when she's clearly upset?!"

"But a child would!" Hermes pressed on, "or could, in any case. Just because someone's related by blood doesn't mean that the two people will have automatically felt unconditional love towards the other. And even if they did, it can easily be removed. For example, I bet none of you felt unconditional love towards grandfather at all, did you? Even if he was your father and is clearly suffering, you would happily let him rot down there-"

"For good reason!" Zeus began to get angry just at the very mention of his father, which in turn, made Hermes nod.

"You see?" he replied. "You've just proved my point. Although, to be fair, he didn't exactly roll out the unconditional love wagon towards you all…But anyway, although it's more than likely that Annabeth is just over exaggerating her feelings, it is still a possibility that she would leave him, out of a possible resentment or anger that she holds for him."

"Does she have any reason to be angry towards him?" Artemis asked her sister sharply, hoping that she wasn't another innocent child, like Percy, who had to suffer from a horrible parental figure.

Athena just stared at her hands in silence, refusing to speak more on the subject. As it became clear the silence would remain indefinitely, Chiron continued to read.

**Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on me. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy," she said.**

"No he hasn't…" Athena relied tiredly, desperate for her daughter to believe her. And also, for her to believe herself.

The others mulled the information in silence, not wanting to upset the wisdom goddess any further.

"**He never wanted a baby. **

Athena sighed once. "It's not that he didn't want you, sweetheart. It's just that he wasn't expecting you. He was so concerned, intellectually, that he hadn't prepared himself for even the possibility of having a child. So of course he was at a loss."

**When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. **

"Did he really?" Aphrodite asked her sister, feeling suddenly sympathetic for her troubles.

**She wasn't happy about that.**

"Yes, he did ask me to do that," Athena replied slowly, and the love goddess felt even sorrier for her.

_At least my relationship with Aries was passionate_, she thought to herself. _And when we had children together he didn't want me to hide them away or to raise them myself. Okay, he wasn't the most hands on father, I admit, but at least he spent some time with them teaching them about the worlds troubles and self defence. And he didn't shout too badly at Eros when he wanted to take after me in becoming a love god. It must have really hurt her when that man told her that. _

_I_ _guess I understand more now of what father was trying to tell me- about how Athena looks perfect, but indeed has many faults. Though she's way brainy and has earned a lot of respect from so much people, when she has to interact with people or raise children her intelligence holds her back. Like that intelligent man. Neither of them properly knows how exactly to raise a child –as she's still a virgin and he's so engrossed in his sciency stuff-so they've never really had the opportunity to._

_I really shouldn't be jealous of her_, Aphrodite decided. _Rather, I should try to help her out. Maybe not by tricking her into falling for a guy that she might like that I normally do, but by little things, like getting her to open up to her family more for a start. Then maybe helping her to make better decisions on love and not doing it for her. In return_, she smiled, _she might give me a few tips to help me get other people to treat me more seriously!_

Aphrodite's smile expanded into a huge grin.

_Sounds like a plan!_

At that moment, Hephaestus decided to look her way. On seeing her smiling over the situation, his frown deepened slightly as he went to address his sister's discomfort.

"Though, I hope," he tried, "not in a wholly negative way?"

"No, no," she reassured him. "He does love her – I know he does! In his own way. But the fact is, he had his mind constantly in developing all of his inventions and other interests that he thought that he couldn't look after her sufficiently. In this sense, he thought it would be more practical if I, the mother, would take her permanently, as not only could I provide her with an emotional bond that he could lack creating fully with her, but because I am a goddess and could therefore give her everything that she could possibly ever desire in life."

"He thought that you could keep her safe, when he could not," Hephaestus gave a small smile.

"He tried to keep her safe," she whispered , mostly to herself.

"That doesn't seem so bad, does it now?"

"Not at all," she managed to smile. "Except for this blasted oath she would have been totally safe!"

**She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."**

"Did he take the news okay though?" Demeter asked her, knowing that the problem that Annabeth had with him had to have risen from somewhere.

"He accepted the situation of me as a goddess quite admirably," Athena started, "and once he understood that I could not take our daughter he was a little downhearted, but not to the extent – or the reason –that Annabeth seems to have formed in her mind. Deep down he truly loves her…"

"But he has a hard time of showing it?" Aphrodite guessed, as Athena nodded. "Some people are like that, and need more help than most in showing the people who are closest to them that they actually care-"

"Aphrodite," Athena warned her, "do not dare attempt to set me up for love again!"

"I'm not! I'm just trying to help-"

"Just leave it alone," the wisdom goddess sighed, as Chiron moved on.

"**But how … I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital…"**

"Mmm," Apollo groaned, "awkward topic alert."

"I don't think," Hermes addressed him, "that the novel would go into quite as much detail as you're thinking…"

"**I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. **

"I'm just going to say this," Dionysus stated, expecting everyone to instantly argue with him over it, "but why did you choose to leave her on the doorstep? Not only would it have been cold and frightening for a child, but the father would be extremely confused when he opened the door and saw her there."

"I-"

"Did he know about his daughter beforehand?" Hestia asked her niece, "or was it meant to be a surprise?"

"He knew there was a reason why I had to leave him," Athena replied, "but since the way that I give birth to children is pretty instantaneous I do not normally have time to warn them before hand."

"But surely," Hera objected, "you could have found the time –if you couldn't tell him of Annabeth in advance- to speak face to face to him about his daughter and her future?"

"You know that I couldn't stay too long though," Athena objected, "because of the guidelines of the oath. I feel bad for not giving him much notice, but I genuinely do not think he resents her at all. He adores her! She's his daughter!"

"And he probably does adore her," Hera tried to comfort her, "but it might have taken a little more time for him to get used to her, and to restructure his life around her."

**You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about me arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."**

Athena did not want to believe that the man who she had gotten to know could treat _their_ daughter like this.

**I stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. I wanted to make Annabeth feel better, but I didn't know how.**

"That's sweet of him," Demeter smiled. "At least you can see he's trying."

"**My mom married a really awful guy," I told her. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."**

"No," Athena shook her head. "that's not it."

"But it might be," Hermes tried to reassure his sister, but she shrugged it off.

"It's not," she replied shortly, attempting to get her emotions back under control. "He must have married the woman out of love, otherwise he would not marry at all, as he would otherwise focus on his intellectual activities. He wouldn't have thought to do that to disguise her scent –his mind simply doesn't work that way."

**Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much.**

"No matter how disappointed she may be in her father," Hestia said. "she still cares about him and would never cause him harm."

"**He doesn't care about me," she said. "His wife—my stepmom—treated me like a freak.**

The room's occupants all frowned at that.

"What? Why?!" Athena demanded. "What is so wrong with my daughter?"

**She wouldn't let me play with her children. **

"It's not like her children would suddenly turn into demigods if they did!" Hera exclaimed. "It makes no sense."

"She does indeed," Artemis frowned as she acknowledged, "sound ignorant and unpleasing."

**My dad went along with her. **

A single tear slipped down Athena's cheek. "I knew she thought it wasn't a paradise living with him, but I had not thought it would be this bad!"

Apollo instantly went to her side and held her close to him. "As a goddess, you are constantly busy attempting to maintain the world. You also have other duties, as well as other children. It is not your fault that you do not have time to check on her more often."

"But I am her mother," Athena struggled to speak without breaking down. "Even though I do not spend much time with them before giving my children to their fathers, I cannot help but feel sad and ashamed that I cannot have them with me. How could he do this to me? To her? How can he treat her so unfairly?"

"It's not your fault," Apollo said to her gently. "It's the way that the laws are right now. There's nothing you could have done to prevent this."

"I hate the law," she whispered, as she attempted to remove herself from his arms. However, as she did so, she realised one thing.

"Why aren't we in the throne room?" she sniffled, as Apollo tried to embrace her once again.

"I teleported us to your private chambers," Apollo admitted. "Father will understand. There's nothing at all wrong with it, but I didn't think that you would like to break down in front of everyone."

"But I'm fine, Apollo," she declared. "I'm okay."

"But you're not though, are you?" he said softly. "And I wouldn't be either if I was in your shoes. I'd be too busy murdering the people who would dare upset my child-"

"Apollo!"

"But that's just my way," he smiled grimly at her. "I'm rash and impulsive. And it wouldn't hurt me to think a bit more. But the same can be said for you. There's nothing wrong with letting your emotions show, you know. I won't make fun of you for doing so."

"But," she protested weakly, as Apollo interrupted.

"And if you want," he told her, "later on we can go and see her if you want to? Whilst being invisible of course! But even then, I'm sure we could find a way of letting her know that you are watching over her. In that way, she wouldn't feel so alone-"

Athena cried at that point, in which she buried her face into her brother's shoulder.

_Please don't leave me_, she whispered to him.

_I won't_…

Meanwhile, as soon as Apollo vanished from the throne room with Athena in her arms, the throne room's occuptants sat in silence, waiting for Zeus' temper to appear. However, though Apollo had indeed gone against his wishes, Zeus could not have been more proud of him, for the way he had handled the situation.

_There's hope for them yet_, he sent his wife a small smile of genuine happiness before addressing the room.

"Neither Athena or Apollo would be joining us for this chapter. Therefore, as it would be pointless to wait for them, we will carry on."

Hera silently agreed with her husband's decision. _It would be hard for Athena, she told him, to worry now for her daughter's safety in this chapter with having this revelation in the forefront of her mind._

_That's why_, he answered, _it's better if she were elsewhere. At least for this chapter. _

**Whenever something dangerous happened—you know, something with monsters—they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."**

"The poor child," Hestia whispered sadly.

"**How old were you?"**

"**Same age as when I started camp. Seven."**

"**But … you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."**

"**Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."**

Everyone smiled at the mention of Athena, and thought, though it was a small comfort, that the fact that her daughter acknowledged her and all the efforts she had taken to protect her was something worthwhile. Even though the girl was having some problems with her father, Annabeth truly loved her mother, and had found others who were willing to love her too. Again, it was a small comfort, especially in the face of the harsh life of a demigod, but it was better than nothing.

**I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. So I listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.** **Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13**

"Oh, no," Hermes shook his head sadly. "Poor guys…"

"What's wrong now?" his father sighed, getting pretty fed up of all the annoying interruptions.

"June thirteenth," Dionysus nodded understandably. "Fair point."

"What's so special about the date?" Aphrodite inquired curiously, feeling slightly irritated that there was yet another thing that she was not aware of.

"Nothing," Demeter assured everyone, "I am sure that Hermes is simply referring to the number."

"Really?" Zeus wearily closed his eyes.

"But it IS unlucky!" Hermes protested.

Suddenly a gentle light appeared in the centre of the throne room. After a few seconds, the golden glow transformed to a pale orange, in which the light began to separate to form letters:

"Thirteen raises fear and dread

Unlucky number,

Destruction is imminent!"

Everyone turned to stare at Hermes.

"Now," Hera glared at him, "was there any need for that?"

"Hey!" Hermes protested innocently, "that wasn't me!"

"Hermes," Artemis questioned her brother, "are you filling Apollo in on everything that's going on in this room?"

"Maybe…"

"Does that include Athena?" Poseidon raised the question, in which Zeus frowned at his son.

"You better not be informing her," he warned Hermes. "After all, she left the room to try to relax and gather herself once again…"

The light formed words once again.

"Come on Dad! Why such the fuss?

Athena can't hear

So take a chill-pill okay?"

"I think," Hermes tried to explain, "since I'm sending Apollo the information through thought speak instead of a visual forms it is easier to keep it from Athena from the time being. Additionally, he says he'd tone down the events of the chapter for her at the end."

"That's very wise of him," Chiron responded and Hestia smiled.

"I'm just glad to know that Apollo takes our side," Dionysus commented happily.

"What side now?" Zeus asked tiredly, whilst the room's occupants groaned.

"The number thirteen," Ares informed him. "Apollo, as the prophecy expert, thinks that the number thirteen is dangerous."

"But-"

"It is a warning," he went on. "Something bad is going to happen now in this chapter, if only because the involvement of this number."

"Ares," Hera sighed, "it's just a harmless number. It does not signify anything."

"Do you want to bet on that?" Dionysus asked her, as a lot of the room's occupants raised their eyebrows at his nerve.

"I beg your pardon?"

"If there is really nothing to worry about," Dionysus grinned wickedly at her, "then I will double the length of my stay at half blood willingly. If there is something to worry about, you halve mine completely."

"Nice try, Dionysus," Zeus interrupted his wife from making a hasty decision.

"But he does have a point," Chiron commented, earning the room's attention.

"In what way?" Hephaestus asked, though was surprised when Aphrodite was the one to answer.

"This chapter," she began, "is the thirteenth chapter of the book, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," Chiron tilted his head at her and gave a small smile.

Zeus was slightly surprised. "You've been keeping notice?"

"Well," Aphrodite said, "yes. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Zeus internally smiled, "therefore may we continue now?"

"And demonstrate," Ares smirked, "that we're right?"

"Even though we don't want to be right," Hermes assured everyone, as Ares frowned in confusion.

"We don't?" he whispered.

"Unless you want something to happen to the children," Hermes noted grimly, "we don't."

"Oh, right…"

**Eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills **

"Aw," Demeter smiled, "now that doesn't seem too bad!"

"It actually seems like a holiday spot," Persephone closed her eyes as she imagined the sun's golden rays on her skin. "Please can we create something like this in the underworld!?"

"But," Hades seemed to sound a little flustered at the excitement of is wife, "there's no proper golden sun in the underworld- unless you travel into one of the realms of the dead. It wouldn't be possible for them to shine the way you want them to. Besides, you'll always have them here on earth whenever you visit them in the summer."

"But that's why I want them down here, Darling!" Persephone protested. "It's true that the hills can have a golden effect when the sun sets in the summer, but the field itself won't be golden. It'll be as artificial as you creating an artificial sun there for us outside the palace-"

"-Which I've already stated," Hades reassured her, "that I'm perfectly willing to create for you as soon as we finish these books, as it'll take quite a bit of power-"

"-I know that, Darling," she sighed. "But rather than wanting to see the golden rays to shine on the grass, I want to see the green grass turn gold all on its own! Without the shine of the sun –real or artificial –making it look that way. Just like plants do in autumn, like the leaves of the trees. I'm never on earth long enough to see it…"

"No," Hades frowned, "because your mother is the one who actually does it every year when you retu-"

"The point is," Persephone sighed, "that I actually want to see it happening before my eyes! Not through Iris messages or people's descriptions of it."

"So," Hades summed up, "you want a golden hill?"

"I really want a golden hill," Persephone pleaded. "If only to-"

"Okay."

"-see what it-what?"

"I said okay," Hades gave a small smile. "It won't hurt anyone. It will cost less than constructing monuments or lakes. And, most importantly, it will make you happy."

"You mean it?" Persephone began to cry softly, never realising that one of her deepest desires could be accomplished so easily.

"I would not say it otherwise," Hades replied, as he turned to Demeter, "that is, of course, if your mother is willing to create it for us. After all, it is her power over nature that we will need to accomplish this particular garden detail."

"Mother?" Persephone begged, and whatever protest Demeter might have had dissolved.

"Though I find such a desire to ruin precious examples of nature odd," she began, "for you, my daughter, I would do anything."

"Oh," Persephone ran down to hug her mother, "thank you so much!"

"When would you want it done?" Demeter asked her brother, glad to have the opportunity to please her daughter.

"Whenever you feel up to it," Hades returned kindly to her, in thanks of her willingness to enter the underworld of her own accord.

"Well then," she gave him a genuine smile, "why not after th-"

"Can we just continue with the story now?" Artemis moaned, starting to feel bored with the whole situation. "There is only so much displays of romantic love I can take."

"Alright…"

**and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.**

"Now, that's odd," Aphrodite commented, "that's quite odd."

"What is?" Artemis asked.

"That he sees the arch as a huge shopping bag handle."

"Okay…" Artemis sighed at her superficiality.

"I just meant," she defended herself, "that he could have compared the object to anything. A tortoise's shell, tunnel, hell even a boomerang if you squinted. Its just odd that he thinks of something that's generally considered to be rather feminine. As in, he's not the usual male hero. Which is nice and refreshing if you think about it."

"Mmm," Artemis considered that. "He'd have to have a pretty big imagination to imagine a boomerang as an arch…"

"And how come you count a tortoise as male?" Demeter raised the question randomly.

"Well…um," Aphrodite struggled, "its…it's in Poseidon's realm!"

A lot of eyebrows went up at this.

"So," Hera said in good humour, "that anyone or anything that lives in Poseidon's realm is automatically considered to be a male?"

"No, no!" Aphrodite protested. "That came out a bit wrong…"

"Geez," Hermes chuckled, "don't let Amphitrite hear you say that."

"And anyway," Hera was about to say, when the light formed words once again.

"Seriously?" Zeus sighed. "You might as well rejoin us if this is the amount of times that you're going to contribute to the commentary."

"I was just about to say that Athena said –as this particular part of the conversation was so random I had to tell her- that turtles are generally the species that live in the sea. You see, tortoises are…"

For once, everyone decided to let her explain through Apollo, wanting her to have some relief by restabilising her intellect over the group.

"…and that is why," Apollo concluded half an hour later, "Aphrodite's comment was so hilarious. That is all."

As everyone woke themselves up again, Chiron carried on.

"**I want to do that," she sighed.**

"What was that now?" the group tried to remember the events prior to the tortoises.

"She desires to construct arches?"

"Make bags?"

"Boomerangs!" another member commented. "There was definitely something mentioned about boomerangs."

"Please," Hades scoffed. "Unless she moves to a different continent that career path doesn't sound likely to be successful at all!"

"Make bag handles?"

"But why would you make bag handles and not the bag?"

"That actually could be a business," Aphrodite said, "though you might not get a lot of people at first…"

"Huh?"

"Well," she stated, "say that your favourite handbag broke because the handle snapped or was wearing away. She'd be able to fix it for you! Plus, if you wanted a new handbag without paying too much for it, you could just change the handles so it would look slightly different each time and still be your favourite!"

"Right…"

"**What?" I asked.**

"Well," Aphrodite admitted, "the business would only be aimed at one particular group of people, so it would be a slow business to start off at first. But when she makes a name for herself she could charge however much she wanted to-"

"**Build something like that. **

"Well, it does technically count as building, but-"

"I think Chiron's on about how Annabeth wants to be an architect, darling," Hephaestus let her know, before turning back to the text.

**You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"**

"I don't think he has," Poseidon said, "it is quite a trek away."

"Do you think he even knows what the Parthenon is?" Artemis asked her uncle, who in reply shook his shoulders, which seemed to say that he did not mind either way.

"**Only in pictures."**

"At least he's seen it then," Hestia smiled, "even if it was not in real life."

"And at least he knows what it is," Dionysus yawned, "on the most basic level of it."

"**Someday, I'm going to see it in person.**

"Oh," Hermes noted, "so Annabeth hasn't seen it in person yet either."

"As Poseidon said," Artemis yawned, "it is quite a trek even if she is Athena's child. Do not forget her past as a runaway either…"

**I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. **

"That is," Hestia smiled encouragingly, "a beautiful dream to wish for."

"And she has an enormous amount of talent," Chiron agreed with her. "She has the potential to turn it into a reality."

"There is only one problem that I have," Hades pointed out the negative aspect of the topic at hand once again.

"And what is that?" Zeus groaned, feeling very vulnerable suddenly at having aspects of his daughter's life discussed so casually in the throne room.

"Only a potential problem," Hades tried to reassure him, "but a problem nonetheless. Particularly with the words 'greatest' and 'ever.' Don't you think that they could possibly contain elements of hubris? It's fair enough that she has a dream to create fantastic monuments. This dream and talent should be encouraged. But by stating that she will indeed create the best monuments of all time for us, she is stating that she thinks she is the best at this skill. However, as I said, it is a small concern, which could resolve itself soon with luck."

"Right…"

**Something that'll last a thousand years."**

**I laughed. **

Poseidon winced at Percy's choice of words, knowing what Athena's reaction to them would be.

**"You? An architect?" **

The hall winced.

"Lucky Athena isn't currently here to hear that," Demeter vexed. "That temper of hers would have exploded by now."

**I don't know why, but I found it funny. **

**Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day.**

"Why," Artemis fumed, "is he laughing?"

"I'm sure he does not mean anything cruel by his words," Hestia stated. "I am sure, upon seeing her lifestyle and her superb combat skills, that he is surprised that she shows a passion for something other than slaying monsters."

"Plus he hasn't known her for long," Hermes smiled, "so he doesn't know her well yet. In this light, he's bound to make a few mistakes."

**Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."**

"Hey!" Poseidon raised his eyebrows in irritation, "I build things too!"

"Like what?" Zeus scoffed.

"Well..," Poseidon grinned, "you'll have to come down to visit me in my underwater palace to find out, won't you?"

"Why can't you tell me now?" Zeus wondered, not wanting to play along.

"Because it has taken me centuries to create that palace to the standard that it is now," Poseidon explained, "and I think that it's high time that at LEAST one of you come and visit it to see it for yourselves at LEAST once in a while."

Everyone turned to look guiltily at him, and promised to sort something out when the novels were completed.

**I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below. **

"**Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."**

"It's good of her to apologize," Demeter nodded. "It proves that she has learnt some manners during her chaotic years."

"Yes," Hades sighed, "because as long as she's learnt how to properly address a social situation there's no need to worry about learning how to fight and survive…"

Everyone quietly chuckled under Demeter's glare.

"**Can't we work together a little?" I pleaded. **

"What an excellent notion!" Hera boomed happily as she turned then onto the room's occupants. "You all could learn a thing or two through listening to the boy's ideology."

Zeus nodded once as Chiron continued.

**"I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"**

**Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess … the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."**

"**Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"**

"Like father, like son," Persephone muttered. "And like mother, like-"

"Persephone," Demeter warned her, "be quiet."

"Okay…"

**We rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.**

"**I suppose," she said at last.**

**We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.**

"Does that mean," Hermes commented, "Annabeth would get to see he arch?"

"Hopefully," Hestia smiled. "Athena will be so pleased if she does."

**Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."**

Dionysus rolled his eyes.

"**Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."**

"**Sightseeing?" **

"**The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"**

**Grover and I exchanged looks.** **I wanted to say no, but I figured that if Annabeth was going, we couldn't very well let her go alone.**

"That's sweet of them," Persephone smiled. "Even though they don't want to go, they're willing to accompany her to help cheer her up."

"They are good friends," Aphrodite agreed. "Plus, together they should be safer from monster attacks."

"Good point," Chiron nodded. "It could possibly be disastrous if they did choose to separate."

Everyone's minds were taken back to the chapter's title.

_Hopefully it won't be too bad…_

**Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."**

Everyone groaned.

"You jinxed it..." Hermes said.

Letters appeared.

"Stupid Grover! Why do that?

Monsters will attack!

People: jump in the water!"

"Um, okay…"

"Is this Apollo just being Apollo?" Demeter wondered, "or is he prophesising the content of this chapter?"

"If he' prophesising," Dionysus grumbled, "he should at least have put a spoiler alert on it!"

"Why?"

"In case some people just want to read the books as they are!"

"Well," Hera noted, "I'm sure we all didn't know that you cared so much-"

"Huh? Oh, believe me- I don't!"

"Then-"

"We're forced to read these books no matter what, so I'd appreciate it if we could either read them unspoiled to at least make them somewhat interesting or not at all."

**The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, **

"Why would it be?"

**but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts **

"Pfft!" the majority of the room groaned, "yeah right!"

"At least we don't have to read about them," Hermes smiled, "seeing as the author didn't find them to be that important."

"Yeah," Poseidon stated, "that is a weird point!"

"What is?" Hephaestus wondered.

"That the book was authored –or greatly helped- by Athena's son."

"So?" Dionysus yawned.

"You would've thought," Hermes said, "that with him being Athena's child that he would have noted them down, wouldn't you?"

"One," Dionysus pointed out, a little irritated with himself for explaining yet another point, "everyone is different. Even though Athena is his mother, he is not obligated to follow her in every interest. Two, the books are centred around Perseus' perspective. Therefore, if he didn't take note of them the first time, why would he explain them in detail here?"

Everyone sat in thought for a few minutes, before Hermes pointed out.

"Weird!"

"What?" Dionysus frowned at him.

"You got his name right!"

The wine god sighed. "Let's just move on, shall we?"

**about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay. **

"Jelly beans," Ares sighed. "what the hell can't they do?"

**I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover.**

"Percy smelt something bad?" Hermes raised his eyebrow.

"Or maybe," Ares rolled his eyes, "Percy is taking the initiative and asking his friend, the monster detector, for the heads up if he smells any monsters. That way, their battle strategies and overall percentage of success would greatly increase if they knew in advance where the upcoming monsters were."

"Who are you and what have you done with Ares?" Persephone demanded from him.

"What?" Ares asked, confused about the situation.

"Who made you the second Athena?" Hermes joked, as Ares glared at him.

"Hey, hey! I'm not that nerdy! Its simple battle strategies! Any idiot would know it without it having to be explained."

"So does that make Hermes," Aphrodite wondered, "a bigger idiot than the average idiot as he's still left in the dark?"

"Or," Hephaestus raised the alternative, "are you saying that Hermes isn't an idiot because you basically said only an idiot could understand you?"

"Shhh!" Aphrodite told him, "don't say that!"

"Why not?" he frowned at her, still not forgiving her for her previous behaviour.

"Because then you would be calling yourself an idiot because you understood what he said!"

"uh"

"This is confusing," Hades pointed out the obvious.

"Let's just skip this whole debate," Dionysus yawned, "as fascinating as it is, to actually continue what we are supposed to be doing."

"Right," the others quickly agreed.

**He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Under ground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."**

"It always means something!" Hera scoffed.

"Geez," Zeus sighed. "Why do you, Chiron, allow this satyr to go with highly powerful demigods on highly important missions when it is clear that all he should do is go back to school?"

"He's not that bad," Poseidon tried to defend the satyr as best as he could for being a friend to his son. "But, I must admit that he is very young and is probably not the wisest choice to send on these dangerous missions. I wouldn't recommend him going to back to the beginning of his training, but I would recommend him going on far easier assignments until he is shown to be capable of achieving better results. In the case of this mission, although his friendship with the two of them will enable more trust and comfort, I would rather a more able satyr to protect my son on this mission."

"But," Chiron reminded him, "remembering that your son, my lord, is being accused by both Lord Hades and Lord Zeus for a high theft, I'm not sure another satyr would have been wise."

"Why?"

"Well," he explained, "as the new satyr would not have previously known Percy –"

"Or he would have," Hades supported his brother, "if the new satyr was sent to Percy's school as Grover was."

"I'm not sure the same level of trust would have been there, especially as the both of them share a bond that is hard to come by elsewhere. This new satyr you speak of would have been too old to connect with Percy and his emotions, let alone pass for the same age without the help of the mist. Further, with this difference in age comes the danger of this new satyr possibly thinking that he is better able to handle the situation than the two demigods, which would have lead to arguments, power struggles, possible physical conflict and general confusion. As further, as both Percy and Annabeth would have been uncomfortable with the new satyr, it is possible he could be kidnapped and replaced by a look alike- by either of you or the other threat- to spy or harm them, or worse."

"Meh," Zeus dismissed the centaur's concerns. "If there was a satyr as bad as that in the camp then it would suggest that you're not doing your job of protecting the demigods correctly."

"Now," Poseidon commanded, "let's read on."

"Hey!" Zeus protested. "That's my line!"

**But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here.**

"Listen to it, please." Poseidon groaned.

"**Guys," I said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?" **

**Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"**

**"Well, Hade—"**

**Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place… You mean, our friend downstairs?"**

"I wouldn't put it that way," Hermes murmured. "It makes him sound creepy."

"Or dead," Demeter frowned, then thought about it. "Which would probably be an apt name for him!"

"Hey!"

"**Um, right," I said. "Our friend **_**way**_** downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"**

Hades scoffed at that.

"It's not a hat," he fumed, as Persephone rubbed his shoulders in comfort.

"I know," she said gently, "try not to take it to heat. You know that his descriptions are so under or over exaggerated."

"Hmph."

"**You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."**

"**He was there?" I asked.**

"Of course I was," Hades said rolling his eyes. "The only time I _am_ able to be there!"

As the others felt guilty once again over the matter, Persephone continued in her comforting.

**She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus—the darkest day of the year. **

Before Hades could explode once again, Zeus sighed once and interrupted him.

"I promise we'll talk about this if you just shut up about it for once!"

"Shut up about it?" Hades was livid. "Just shut up about it?! It isn't a small matter, brother! It is totally unjust and unfair! How would you like it if you were in my shoes? All of your family refusing to see you except for once a year! And even on that day it's so completely dreaded that you have to make the weather reflect it too! So completely unjust! So utterly and comp-"

"Yes, alright! I understand!" Zeus sighed. "I just said we'll discuss it, didn't I?"

"But we shouldn't need to discuss it!"

**But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true…"**

"It is," Hades glared at the text. "And, once again, the last part of that sentence is quite a dangerous way of thinking-"

"Why now?" Demeter sighed, wishing to move on from her brother's ranting.

"The 'if' in her sentence shows that some part of her –even if it is only a small part- doubts that it is true."

"It's only natural," Demeter tried to wave it away, "seeing as she hasn't saw your helm in action yet-"

"But what does seeing my helm have to do with this?" Hades raised the question. "Just because she hasn't saw Poseidon's trident doesn't mean that it might be weaker than Percy's sword. Or just because she hasn't saw Zeus' masterbolt in its full glory doesn't mean that it might be weaker than Ares' daughter's electrical spear-"

"How dare you even assume that her spear is stronger than my weapon!"

"Then you understand how I feel then, brother?" Hades asked him. "How weak that argument is? How DARE a demigod –even a small part of her –assume that her puny little hat is stronger than my helm! IF?! IF! It is definitely stronger, without question! The fact that she doubts this, especially whilst she's comparing my helm to her own item, demonstrates that she has the flaw of hubris- where it could definitely be the ruin of her!"

No one knew what to say to that, so they remained silent. After a while, Chiron decided to venture onwards.

"**It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. **

"**Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?" **

"**But then … how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked.**

"You don't," Ares said. "That's how impressive the helm is."

**Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.**

"**We don't," Grover said.**

"**Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," I said.**

"**Got any blue jelly beans left?" **

Poseidon smiled a little at that. Though it was a rather bittersweet moment, Percy was still taking the time to think of his mother.

_I hope they're both okay…_

**I'd almost mastered my jumpy nerves when I saw the tiny little elevator car we were going to ride to the top of the Arch, and I knew I was in trouble. I hate confined places. They make me nuts.** **We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it.**

"If Athena was here," Aphrodite pointed out, "I'm sure she would have told us to pay special attention to that last description."

"Why?" Persephone asked. "Isn't she just a tourist?"

"Well," Aphrodite tried to explain. "First, why would he even describe her if she wasn't important to the plot? Second, as the guards don't respond to the dog, it might be a suggestion that the mist is in effect."

"So she might be a monster," Persephone sighed. "That's not good…"

"When's it ever?"

**We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it.**

"Yeah," Poseidon agreed, "I don't think mine would like that either."

"**No parents?" the fat lady asked us. **

"Yes," Hephaestus agreed with his wife. "This woman is behaving rather oddly, isn't see?"

"Relax," Hermes said, "she's probably just a lady who is concerned that she doesn't see any parents around these three pre-teens."

"Do you really believe that?" Artemis squinted up at him.

"Not really," Hermes admitted. "They should just get out of there."

**She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.**

Quiet laughter spread through the hall.

"**They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."**

Hermes nodded his approval. "Pretty believable cover story."

"Better than the circus one, at least," Hera had to agree.

"Though," Poseidon sighed. "I don't think we've heard the end of this…"

"You're probably right," Demeter sighed. "She's probably going to pretend to be sympathetic now…"

"**Oh, the poor darlings."**

"You see? I called it!"

"Pretty good," Hermes admitted, before Chiron read on.

**The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, Sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.**

"The worst," Ares sighed. _Though this should make for a good fight scene if I'm lucky!_

**I said, "Sonny. Is that his name?" **

"**No," the lady told me.**

"Okay," Poseidon frowned, "is she going to tell us what he's called then?"

"Somehow," Hephaestus said, "unless it's a warning of the monsters name, I don't think it matters too much…"

**She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.**

**At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. **

"Lovely," Persephone muttered.

"Now this is one design," Hades informed his wife after he had taken a moment to calm down after the previous topic, "that I do not want to discover in the palace."

"Deal," she instantly said, entwining his hand in hers.

**Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick.**

"Wimp," Ares rolled his eyes, whereupon Hermes promptly hit him.

"Hey," Hermes frowned, "remember he's Uncle Poseidon's son? He should be nervous if he goes higher than ground level."

"If it's any consolation," Zeus said, "I probably wouldn't do anything to him- anymore…"

**Annabeth kept talking about structural supports and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor.**

"Is she implying that she could have made them better if she had the opportunity?" Dionysus narrowed his eyes at the image. "When she should be keeping an eye out for possible threats?"

**She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for me the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.**

"Athena's daughter alright," Poseidon yawned. "If I was Percy, I would have left after a few minutes."

"Or just made her promise to do something you wanted to do straight after this," Hermes suggested, "like going to an amusement park or an arcade if they have one."

"That definitely sounds like fun," Ares grinned at the image. "Too bad they're out of money…"

**I steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and I was about to get in myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me.**

"This doesn't sound good…" Poseidon said worriedly.

"Please," Dionysus scoffed. "He's a skinny kid! I'm sure he would have squeezed in!"

"Don't try to question their logic," Hermes joked. "We'll be here all day!"

**The park ranger said, "Next car, sir." **

"**We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."**

"How sweet," Aphrodite and Hera smiled happily.

"Though it's not very practical," Hera added, "from a time point of view."

"But from a monster point of view," Hephaestus retaliated, "it is."

**But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said, "Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom." **

"Besides," Poseidon frowned, "it wouldn't cause that much confusion and time loss. They could simply let two other people from behind them go first and then they could go next. It would then take them just as long a time as before –seeing as they would have had to wait for Percy to come down."

"See?" Hermes smiled, "we can be brainy if we want to!"

**Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, **

"Haha," Ares teased, "they know the boy too well!"

"Though I doubt he'd blow up the elevator this time," Artemis smirked.

**but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.** **Now the only people left on the observation deck were me, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua. **

**I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.**

"Forked tongue?" Hestia repeated.

"Echidna?" Hera guessed.

"Hopefully not," Poseidon sighed, "that would be just his luck!"

**Wait a minute.**

**Forked tongue?**

**Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me.**

"**Now, now, Sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."**

"She better not have hurt those mortals," Zeus muttered darkly, as the others held their breaths, preparing themselves for the encounter.

"**Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!" **

"Not a dog," Hermes said, "an evil little demon."

"He had to attract attention to himself," Hephaestus groaned.

"Hopefully," Demeter observed, "his parents would protect him from the conflict."

**His parents pulled him back.**

"Wise," Hera nodded her approval, "now find somewhere safe to remain until the threat is dealt with."

"How long do you think it'll take for Annabeth and the satyr to notice something is up?" Aphrodite wondered.

"Well," her husband mused, "depending on how loud or destructive the fight is- they might notice instantly in the elevator or just as they reach the bottom. Otherwise, it will take a while for the elevator to arrive back up and even longer for them to realise why Percy's not coming back down."

"Then," she sighed, "it looks like he will be fighting this battle on his own."

"Yes," he answered her. "That is the probable outcome."

**The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips. **

"**Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."**

"Wait," Persephone said in confusion, "son?"

**Ice started forming in my stomach. "Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"**

"_**Chimera**_**, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."**

"Oh, sure," Ares said, "easy when it's hidden by the mist!"

"How did they even find him?" Hera frowned. "They do not normally appear in this area."

"I agree," Artemis frowned, "it is too suspicious to be a coincidental meeting. These monsters must have been summoned."

"In advance I apologize if it was me," Hades said at one. "Though, I do not usually command these particular monsters…I would never do so now."

**She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side ways slits, like a reptile's.**

"How," Poseidon asked. "does he get out of this one?"

"Well," Zeus answered. "He has gotten out of every predicament so far..."

Poseidon frowned. "That's not an answer!"

"Well," his brother shrugged helplessly. "That's all I have!"

**The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar. **

**The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.**

"Don't just stand there," Hera yelled. "move!"

"Idiotic mortals," Dionysus sighed, as the others turned to glare at him.

**The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind.** **The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA—RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS—IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS—EXT. 954.**

"Hades," Zeus sighed. "That's not funny, you know."

"It wasn't meant to be funny," the god grumbled. "It's the general warning label I put on each monster of his level."

**I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword. My hands were numb. I was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge.**

"Definitely not a good situation to be in," Ares admitted, having no clue how the kid was going to survive this.

"You think?" Poseidon said sarcastically, feeling the familiar strain that he had felt in the previous chapters begin to rise again.

**The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honoured, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood.**

"Wait," Hades whispered darkly. "Lord Zeus?"

"Oh, father," Aphrodite sighed, "you didn't!"

"I-"

"I'm very disappointed in you, husband," Hera let him know. "Having to resort to monsters to rid yourself of a family member- an innocent family member, I might add! This is a new low!"

"I-"

"Please, dad," Hermes said, "you just have to try to listen more to other people- to take the time to find out if they're innocent or not. This is not right."

"I apologize," Zeus said to Poseidon. "I currently do not wish for the boy's death nor, I suppose, would I want to wish for it in future."

"We'll see," Poseidon said, sounding more clipped and closed off than he had previously done before returning his attention towards the threat his son would be facing in the future.

_Not if I can help it!_

**For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"**

The room's majority turned to glare at Zeus.

**I stared at her. All I could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"**

"Oh," Dionysus groaned. "now he's done it!"

"Yes," Hades replied, "I suppose he has. Especially since she really hates it when people compare her to an anteater."

"It is true then," Hermes closed his eyes, "Percy has a knack for upsetting us with his quick tongue."

"Whereupon," Hestia stated firmly, "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"What do you mean?" Demeter said. "Surely it is disastrous if he manages to alienate us against him, isn't it?"

"If you do not understand my comment now," Hestia told her, "then your eyes are still closed. Since it would be pointless for me to simply tell you, try thinking of the question again by the time that the final book comes about."

"But-"

"Just let it go," Hera advised her. "I'm confident that she won't say more at this time, so let us focus on the task at hand."

**She howled,**

"Didn't know she was a dog…" Dionysus muttered, so as to not be heard.

**her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia!** **Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"**

"So it _wasn't_ because Zeus commanded her to destroy him," Ares confirmed, trying to establish his loyalty. "It was because Percy called her an anteater…"

"Okay," Poseidon sighed, along with the majority of the throne room, "can we not talk about why they want to kill my son?"

"but-"

With a glare from Hera, they continued.

**The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite.**

Poseidon didn't dare relax, he knew this was just the beginning.

**I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors. **

"Don't let them get hurt, Percy," Hestia said worriedly.

"But remember to protect yourself in the process," Poseidon called out, willing to make that sacrifice in order to save his son.

**I couldn't let them get hurt. **

"Good," Hestia and Hera approved of the boy's actions, as they displayed him to be a true hero, and not one focused on self –advancement.

"Mmm," Dionysus considered this thought pattern. _I bet this is the brat's fatal flaw. Strange_, he murmured. _It is most unusual…._

**I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible.**

**Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me. I dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eye brows.**

**Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.**

"He just ruined a national monument!" Hera raised her eyebrows at him in slight irritation.

"Well," Poseidon answered her darkly, "it's better than allowing himself –or the other civilians, for that matter- to be harmed, isn't it?"

"I guess," she quickly tried to backtrack, but Poseidon would not hear it.

"Still," Hermes whistled, "I can't imagine Athena's face when we tell her what happened."

"She'll be livid," Artemis commented, "and will, most probably, turn that anger onto us."

"Yes," Ares considered that for a moment. "Let's not tell her then."

"Good plan," Hermes smiled, as the older members rolled their eyes at them before moving on.

**Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument.**

"At least he acknowledges what he's done," Demeter pointed out, which attracted Poseidon's anger.

"What he's done?" he stated angrily. "He has done nothing wrong!"

"Yes," Aphrodite inserted, "it's not like he asked for the monsters to attack him after all!"

"Additionally," Hermes said, "he is doing everything he can do minimize the damage done, so will you stop picking on him now?"

**Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in my hands, and as the Chimera turned, I slashed at its neck.**

"No!" chorused the room.

**That was my fatal mistake.**

Poseidon's eyes widened in fear.

"It'll be okay, Poseidon," Hestia said to him in comfort, "it's not his time yet."

"No," Poseidon shook his head. "It is as Hades said- anything can happen!"

**The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. I tried to regain my balance, but I was so worried about defending myself against the fiery lion's mouth, I completely forgot about the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf.**

"I thought you said he wouldn't die!" Poseidon yelled at Hephaestus, who flinched at the magnitude of his anger.

"Firstly," he answered. "I said it was probable that he was going to survive this. Second, though he has been poisoned, it is not yet over. There are still multiple ways for him to survive this experience."

"Such as?" Poseidon tensed.

"If you cannot realise the most obvious one," Hephaestus muttered, "then you are in no state to ask me such questions. Chiron, just try to read this part as quickly as you can. It would save us a lot of tension and stress."

"Right…"

"But Hephaestus!"

"Just listen, Uncle…"

**My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River.**

Everyone looked worried at this. No one _hated_ Percy in the room and most surely didn't want him to die. But this was looking worse and worse for the son of Poseidon. No one could see how he was going to get out of this predicament.

However, upon hearing this, the worry Poseidon displayed lessened considerably. As he turned to look upon Hephaestus and saw his nod of confirmation, he discovered that he was able to relax a little once again.

**I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost.**

"No!" the majority of the hall cried.

"Never give up, Percy," Hermes exclaimed. "It's not over yet!"

**I was weaponless. I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me, but there was no pen in my pocket.**

"It takes a longer time with a longer distance." Chiron explained before reading onwards.

**Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out.** **I backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"**

_They certainly don't,_ Dionysus admitted, which wasn't entirely a bad comment to declare.

**The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten.** **I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I couldn't just … die.**

"He has no self-preservation!" Poseidon groaned, "his downfall will be his loyalty!"

"Poseidon!" Hera chastised him. "I think it is very noble of him to even be aware of the mortal's suffering at this time, especially when he is injured this badly. If this loyalty is his fatal flaw, then I don't wish to know what his strength is!"

**I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire. My head felt dizzy. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared.** **There was no place to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.**

"River," suddenly it clicked in Zeus' mind. "Jump nephew! Jump!"

"Huh?" Persephone protested. "Don't you think that's a little mean father?"

As Hades whispered the truth in her ear, she blushed deeply before uttering an apology.

**If I died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?**

"Probably," Zeus admitted, "I'm sure that, the future me, would have made her instructions very clear."

"If you decided to think that far ahead in your anger," Hades muttered, in which Demeter sent him a glare.

"You're a bright one talking!"

"**If you are the son of Poseidon," Echidna hissed, "you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline."**

"Can't believe I'm saying this but… do what that she demon commands!" Hera exclaimed. "I'm certain that your father will help you survive!"

"Though," Hermes said as an afterthought, "how he would survive the poison and the actual fall down is beyond me."

"Unless Uncle's generosity approaches the levels of favouritism," Artemis stated, "he won't."

"In that case," Ares said, "I guess there won't be a need to get the brat a get well soon card as I'm sure he'll be healed completely almost instantaneously."

"Like you wouldn't do it for your children!" Poseidon defended his actions. "Zeus transformed his daughter so that she could live!"

"Yes," Zeus sighed at the painful reminder. "But note that I transformed her, not healed her to perfect health. I did not break the law, in which you here are dangerously close to doing!"

"Details," Poseidon ignored his brother's words. Even though he was not allowed to visit his son, nothing was going to stop him from saving him.

**Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From here, I'd splatter on impact.**

"Well," Hera said. "if you were anyone else, yes that would be true, but since you're the son of Poseidon, you would be fine."

**The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast.**

"Hurry up and jump!" Ares yelled.

"**You have no faith," Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart." **

"My son is _not_ a coward!" Poseidon yelled.

"We're _not_ faithless!" Everyone else yelled.

**She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods. **

"You will be safe!" Zeus yelled, although hesitantly.

**I backed up and looked down at the water. I remembered the warm glow of my father's smile when I was a baby. He must have seen me. He must have visited me when I was in my cradle. **

"I had to see my son," Poseidon smiled fondly at the memory as Zeus turned to glare at his brother.

_Another rule he's just dismissed_, Zeus thought grimly_. I wonder what other rules he does not abide by…_

**I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon had claimed me as his son.**

**But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead centre of the USA. There was no Sea god here. **

"Doesn't matter," Poseidon explained hurriedly, "it all connects together in the end. Just jump now and all will be well!"

"Not counting the deadline," Dionysus added, which received a few more glares in his direction.

"**Die, faithless one," Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face.**

"**Father, help me," I prayed.**

"I will if you jump!" Poseidon said desperately.

**I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river.**

"Finally!"

"I thought he was never going to jump!" Poseidon sighed, though not totally relaxed until he knew the truth. "Carry on Chiron."

"I can't," the centaur replied.

"And why not?" Poseidon asked menacingly, only to be interrupted by Hestia.

"I assume that we have reached the end of the chapter, have we not?"

"Indeed we have, milady," Chiron answered her, clearly relieved.

"But we can't have!" Poseidon objected. "This is more of a cliff hanger than any of the other chapters. There must be more!"

"There isn't."

"But I must know what happens. I demand that we read on!"

"And I say we shouldn't," Zeus intervened. "Not only will it tire us out even more, but it is not fair to not give Athena and Apollo a chance to join us for the next chapter."

"But-"

"Therefore," Zeus carried on, "we will all arrive back here in an hour to carry on as always."

"But I must know for certain-"

"Goodbye Poseidon," Zeus sighed, taking the text with him in case the others had any ideas about reading it independently.

With that, Zeus and Hera vanished, leaving the rest to stare at each other, not certain what they wished to do.


	20. Directions

Chapter 20 – Directions

As Zeus returned, the room's occupants began to gather once again. Among them were Athena and Apollo, who had quietly joined them having been filled in on what they had missed the session before.

"Right," Zeus announced quickly to his family, "I'm very pleased that everyone managed to arrive back on time for once: very well done! Now then, who desires to read next?"

"I will then," Hestia smiled and took the book. "This time, the title is called, '**I Become a Known Fugitive'."**

"That settles it then," Apollo smiled, "there's no way he died."

"Then," Hermes smiled slightly, "it doesn't seem as bad as the last chapter."

"Yes," Demeter agreed. "Hopefully there would be little hardships surrounding them in this chapter other than a slight chase from the mortal police officers?"

Hestia read on, hopeful of the children's fate.

**I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, **

"I seriously doubt it," Athena sighed, trying to appear as normal after what had just recently occurred.

Poseidon only mock glared at her, not having the heart yet to confront her upon an issue yet.

Hestia read on.

**that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, etcetera.**

**The truth? My only thought was: Aaaagggghhhhh!**

Slight snickers erupted in the throne room.

Hestia frowned at them slightly, "don't be so mean- it's a natural reaction to have in this occasion."

"Yes," Hera supported her sister, "I'm sure that if any of you were mortal and you were falling off the Gateway Arch, you would be screaming your head off as well."

"Ah," Ares smirked at his mother, "but I'm _not_ mortal, so I have nothing to worry about."

Artemis glared at him. "We'll see about that," she whispered as she began to move to grab him.

"Later," Zeus barked. "You can test your theory when the chapter ends! For now just carry on with the reading."

"Yes," Hades groaned at them, "otherwise people will start thinking we're lazy if we can't manage to read a simple book in under two weeks!"

As people turned to glare at him, Dionysus raised his head from his magazine. "Besides," he yawned, "there's a slight flaw in you're theory."

"Which is?" Artemis asked, making a few of the gods glare at her for wasting time and making them look bad.

"Ares is a total adrenaline junkie," Dionysus rolled his eyes, "he'd probably enjoy it."

"Then," she smirked, "I'd guess I'd have to make do with you then."

"Like hell you are!"

Hestia read on, ignoring their random conflict.

**The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.**

**And then: **_**Flaaa-boooom!**_

Persephone, Apollo and Hermes winced at the noise their aunt produced.

"That sounds quite painful, uncle," Hermes said hesitantly, "are you sure he's alright?"

"Yeah," Persephone said worriedly. "I know he's your son and all, but wouldn't the fall alone be damaging to him?"

"The impact you mean?" Athena prompted her.

"Uh…yeah," she said, wanted to stay on her good side.

_Hopefully…_

**A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever.**

"Aw, don't be such a baby," Dionysus sighed, "there's no way your father would allow that to happen."

"That's right," Poseidon said, thankful that his son didn't sound to be in pain at all.

"I mean," Dionysus continued, "I guess he would if he was in a bad mood with you, or if he ever wanted to hide you from anyone who threatened you, or if-" 

"Dionysus!" Demeter slapped him. "Is that really necessary?"

"No…"

"Then shut up," she hissed, displeased at the thought that people would think of them as lazy if they failed to finish the book after a decent period of time.

**But my impact with the water hadn't hurt. **

Small smiles appeared upon some of the god's and goddesses' faces.

"That's a relief then," Hermes grinned.

"Was that his natural ability though," Hades wondered suspiciously, "or your own ability?"

_Uhhh…._

"I doubt it's the boy's ability," Hera muttered, "there's no way a demigod can be that powerful."

…

**I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. **

"I'm not an expert or anything," Hephaestus frowned innocently, "but shouldn't he be thinking about surfacing to breathe any time soon?"

Athena smiled at his comment, before taking a moment before considering the wait of his words.

_What if he's breathing already?_ She pondered. _If so, what other powers does this boy possess?_

**A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away in the gloom.**

"Must be a gigantic catfish," Persephone frowned, attempting to imagine its size before looking slightly ill.

"As long as the catfish doesn't look like him," Apollo said, "I'm sure that he'll be fine."

Aphrodite similarly frowned at the image.

**Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage—**

"Mmm," Hermes mulled the thought. "It certainly does remind me of his stepfather's natural environment. Are you sure it's not him Percy's seeing?"

"Please," Poseidon snorted, "don't insult the fish!"

**beer bottles, **

Ares' eyebrows lifted slightly, "what a coincidence!"

"It's Stinky Gabe!"

"Don't you mean Smelly?" Persephone questioned.

"Same thing," Ares said, "isn't it darl?"

Aphrodite didn't respond to him. Instead, she sat in her throne quietly, mulling over her possible options in her head.

_After this meeting,_ she vowed. _I'll talk to Hephaestus. I'll let him know what's working quietly inside my heart._

**old shoes, **

"Gabeish," Hermes nodded, as Athena frowned at the term.

"But," she argued, "anyone can have a pair of old shoes, even if they are no longer in possession of them. In this sense, I fail to see how they distinctly relate to this one specific human. My calculations state…"

An hour and a half later, as no one had the nerve to interrupt Athena mid rant after her trauma, the room's members could only stare tiredly at her.

"Okay, okay," Ares sighed at last, "you're right of course! Let's just move on shall we?"

**plastic bags—**

No one dared to interrupt at this one, particularly considering Athena's defiant glare which was observing each one of them closely.

**swirled up all around me.**

"It sounds so disgusting and drab," Persephone gagged, "doesn't it Aphro?"

Aphrodite remained silent for a moment, before muttering a soft 'I guess' in reply without much enthusiasm, leaving Persephone feeling confused and slightly hurt.

"Well," Demeter stepped in at last, not able to bear her daughter's discomfort, "I agree with your point daughter!"

She inquired further into it as she turned her attention towards her brother. "Can you not do anything about it, Poseidon?"

"Yes and no," he said, after a while of consideration. "Whilst I have the power, I do not have the jurisdiction nor time at the moment to do so."

"Can you not consult the river spirits," Hera frowned, "to try to come to some sort of agreement about keeping the rivers unpolluted?"

"I could I suppose," Poseidon said at last, "but I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that."

"In what way?"

"Well," he said, "firstly, even if we clean them they are going to become polluted swiftly again by humans. Secondly, if we did clean them, humans would see the development and would be in shock at the sudden change, which could lead them to believe that they could pollute the water how many times they wanted to with no consequences at all- which is wrong. Thirdly, I would need to appoint more people with my power to observe these different areas in my stead, as I could not do so on my own."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Well," Hera said, "I understand perfectly your point about the humans and the damage that they cause, as Zeus and I'm sure Demeter also faces the same problems that you do."

"In this sense," Hestia said, "we really need to think of a plan of action that could benefit everyone –us as well as the humans and the land we govern, without one side appearing too greedy or acting negatively."

"That sounds hard," Persephone frowned.

"But I'm sure it can be done," Hera insisted, "if everyone would place their trust in each other and work as a team!"

Total silence.

Hestia sighed at the silence that met her sister's statement and continued with her reading.

**At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake.**

"You just realized that?" Artemis couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

**I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. **

"That," Athena admitted, "is truly an amazing skill. I wish my children could have been endowed with something as wondrous as that."

"As also wish mine were," Zeus sighed, his thoughts travelled sadly back to Thalia. "It is a marvellous power."

"It is very rare that any of my offspring receive it," Poseidon admitted. "Percy must be the second demigod to have ever received it."

_I only prey that he has not I inherited the consequences of doing so also... Zeus would not be happy about that at all!_

**I was alive, which was good. **

"Delightfully good," Hestia emphasised before reading on.

**Second realization: I wasn't wet. I mean, I could feel the coolness of the water. I could see where the fire on my clothes had been quenched. But when I touched my own shirt, it felt perfectly dry.**

"Huh?" Persephone's eyes widened at the fact. "Really?"

"Yup," Poseidon nodded curtly. "It is merely a demonstration of him learning to control water."

_I hope that's all it is…please don't let it be more!_

**I looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter. **

**I flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi. **

Poseidon internally sighed at the description, as the others turned towards him, clearly impressed by his son's abilities.

_Please don't let them find out!_

**No way, I thought. **

**I grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry.** **I lit it with no problem. As soon as I let it go, the flames sputtered out. The wrapper turned back into a slimy rag. Weird.**

"You're telling me," Apollo nodded impressed. "If he manages to work out how he does this, there's no telling what he would be able to eventually do."

"Do you think his skill can advance to affect other people as well as other objects?" Athena asked Poseidon, knowing this could be an useful skill that could potentially help her daughter survive, should she need it.

"I don't see why not," Poseidon said simply as Hestia carried on.

**But the strangest thought occurred to me only last: I was breathing.**

"Huh…?"

**I was underwater, and I was breathing normally.**

"Now THAT'S amazing," Hermes had to say. "Though I can't believe it had taken him this long to notice!"

"Poor sea-weed brain," Ares snickered.

"You're not that much smarter than him," Athena warned him, and he quietened instantly as the others began to chuckle.

**I stood up, thigh-deep in mud. **

"Mmm," Hera mused, "that must take him an age to free himself from that. Quite and inconviencience really…"

"Would that happen anytime he was in the water?" Persephone wondered, but Poseidon shook his head.

"Only in seriously polluted or marshy waters," he replied, "and even then, when he is too lost in thought to govern both himself and the water around him."

"Right…"

**My legs felt shaky. My hands trembled. **

"Do you think he's going into shock?" Hephaestus asked Apollo.

"I doubt it," Apollo decided, "he's proven to be quite strong, mentally, but I do say he's in a state of confusion right now…"

**I should've been dead. The fact that I wasn't seemed like … well, a miracle. **

**I imagined a woman's voice, a voice that sounded a bit like my mother:**

_**Percy, what do you say?**_

"Is he hearing voices now?" Artemis questioned, slightly concerned for the boy.

"Maybe it's a river spirit, Artemis," Poseidon turned to look at her, who blushed suddenly in realisation.

"Oh…yeah," she said sheepishly.

"**Um … thanks." **

"Mmm," Apollo smiled, "not the reaction I would have had, anyway."

"No," Athena smiled back, "your reaction would be to yell loudly at the person who made the noise and try to fight them off."

"Or ask them for food," Hermes nodded.

"Or sing poetry to them," Athena confirmed and Apollo rolled his eyes.

"It's like you don't know me at all…"

**Underwater, I sounded like I did on recordings, like a much older kid. "Thank you … Father."**

"You're welcome," Poseidon chuckled. "Just don't make me have to save you again," he added. "That is not something that I would like to make a regular occurrence."

"I'll say," Demeter rolled her eyes, "though at least he's a polite boy…sometimes."

**No response. **

"That's a little rude," Persephone frowned at him, though she shrank back as Poseidon began to glare at her.

"Have you forgotten about the law already, sis," Apollo stage whispered to her, as she pulled her hands up to her mouth in embarrassment.

"I'm sor-"

"Let's just carry on, shall we?" Poseidon said, making Demeter and Hades glare slightly at her.

**Just the dark drift of garbage downriver, the enormous catfish gliding by, the flash of sunset on the water's surface far above, turning everything the colour of butterscotch. **

**Why had Poseidon saved me?**

"Did he really just ask that?" Hermes face palmed.

"It is Percy after all," Dionysus sighed, as he turned the page of his magazine.

"Why wouldn't I save you?" Poseidon asked in confusion.

"Well," Hephaestus said quietly, "You have to remember that he's never met you, spoken to you, or even seen you in all the time that he's been alive. He doesn't know that you love him and have faith in him."

"This is true," Athena agreed with him. "As I understand it, he is currently under the impression that the only reason that you claimed him is to benefit your best interests. Not out of love or concern for him."

"But that's not-"

"We know," Hephaestus said, "but your son doesn't."

"That will change." Poseidon said firmly. "Go ahead and keep reading, Hestia."

**The more I thought about it, the more ashamed I felt. So I'd gotten lucky a few times before. Against a thing like the Chimera, I had never stood a chance.**

"That's not entirely true," Dionysus said suddenly, "he is simply untrained. With more combat and skill practice, he has the potential to do great things... even though he is an idiotic brat!"

Poseidon didn't know whether to smile or frown at that statement.

"You had to spoil it, didn't you?!" Demeter glared as she slapped him once again around the head. "When will you grow up?!"

"When you start learning to make decent cereal!"

**Those poor people in the Arch were probably toast. I couldn't protect them. I was no hero.**

"Well," Athena said, as Zeus continued to look ashamed of himself, "I'm pretty sure Echidna disappeared after you jumped."

**Maybe I should just stay down here with the catfish, join the bottom feeders.**

"It could be fun," Poseidon suggested, liking the idea of his son spending his time safely in the water. "Though I'd suggest finding better fish than that to be associated with…you wouldn't want to ruin your public reputation after all."

"I didn't think catfish were that bad?" Hera questioned. "I thought they were considered to be, by human standards, middle-class fish-"

"Middle-class fish?" Hermes laughed at the thought as Poseidon shook his head.

"Not anymore," Poseidon decided firmly.

_There's no way a fish that would look anywhere CLOSE to that disgusting man could ever have a good position in society!_

_**Fump-fump-fump.**_** A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around.**

"Isn't that dangerous?" Hestia asked in concern.

"He should be okay," Poseidon noted, "his instincts should keep him from harm…"

**There, not five feet in front of me, was my sword, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud. **

"Why hasn't it returned to his pocket?" Hermes wondered, only to have Chiron shake his shoulders.

"Maybe it takes longer whenever he's in water? Or the spirit is drawing attention towards it."

**I heard that woman's voice again: **_**Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you.**_

"Okay, you were right," Hermes said impressed.

Oh," Poseidon said, realizing what was happening.

"What?" The other asked. Poseidon just shook his head.

Everyone watched the scene that was unfolding curiously.

**This time, I knew the voice wasn't in my head. I wasn't imagining it. Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar. **

"**Where are you?" I called aloud.**

**Then, through the gloom, I saw her—a woman the colour of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like mine.**

**A lump formed in my throat. I said, "Mom?" **

"Poor dear," Hestia sighed sadly.

_**No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica.**_

"**What?"**

"Poseidon," Hera addressed her brother, "do you know who this is?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Poseidon smiled warmly, "though we'll have to wait until he arrives there to know for sure."

_**It is your father's will.**_

"See?" Artemis pointed out, "it's a sign that you're thinking of him. Maybe he'll start to pick up on it too."

"Does that mean you'll be there to greet him, Poseidon?" Zeus sounded slightly angry.

"Probably not," Poseidon sighed unhappily, "I don't think I could risk angering you any further at this point in time."

_**Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.**_

Poseidon frowned again upon hearing her words.

_I need to do something about this and soon…_

"**But …" I was sure this woman was my mother, or a vision of her, anyway.**

"She's not, dear, "Hera said sadly. "Though, she does seem nice."

"**Who—how did you—"**

**There was so much I wanted to ask, the words jammed up in my throat.**

_**I cannot stay, brave one, **_**the woman said. She reached out, and I felt the current brush my face like a caress.**

_**You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts…**_

"Gifts?" Zeus perked up. "What gifts is she talking about, Poseidon?"

"I'm not entirely sure….," he mulled, "Athena?"

"Well," she thought. "The most obvious answer would be Riptide, but since she has urged him to take this sword it cannot be this. Therefore, she is either talking about a gift that his mother or one of the campmates gave to him before he left on this quest, or a possible gift that he's going to get in the future. I'd suggest it is probably the latter."

**Her voice faded. **

"How convenient…"

"**Gifts?" I asked. "What gifts? Wait!"**

**She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. If it was my mother, I had lost her again. I felt like drowning myself. **

Poseidon, as well as some of the other in the room, frowned at his train of thought.

**The only problem: I was immune to drowning.**

"How is that a problem?" Poseidon growled, upset that he could do nothing at all to comfort his son at this point in time.

"I'm sure he's just exaggerating," Demeter tried to comfort him. "He'll be alright in a little while."

_**Your father believes in you, **_**she had said.**

"I do believe in you, son," Poseidon pressed, "please believe me!"

**She'd also called me brave … unless she was talking to the catfish.**

"Why does he keep mentioning this catfish?" Apollo sighed, "it's making me think he's an evil villain or something."

"Well," Hermes stared at him, "he's not, okay?"

"But he might be!"

"…"

**I waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. The Chimera might still be up there with its snaky, fat mother, waiting to finish me off.** **At the very least, the mortal police would be arriving, trying to figure out who had blown a hole in the Arch. If they found me, they'd have some questions.**

**I capped my sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in my pocket. "Thank you, Father," I said again to the dark water. **

"You're welcome, again." Poseidon smiled, glad that his son was slightly better than before.

**Then I kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.**

**I came ashore next to a floating McDonald's. **

"Don't say you're hungry," Athena warned her brother, as he turned to stare at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Give me food?" he pleaded.

"But we've just eaten," she sighed, even as she conjured him a meal to keep him happy."I really don't understand you…"

**A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve. A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river."**

"**That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.**

"**But he's dry!"**

"**That's nice, dear."**

"What horrible parenting!" Demeter scowled at the scene that was being portrayed. "That mother should listen to her child."

Hephaestus rolled his eyes and scoffed at her attitude.

"I completely agree," Persephone said, "plus I really think-"

"It's completely disrespectful," Demeter went on, "and it will damage their spirit and morale!"

"…"

**A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."**

_**Survivors.**_** I felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. I hoped Annabeth and Grover were okay.**

"They better be!" Athena yelled.

"You know there will be," Hera tried to comfort her, but a permanent looking scowl appeared on her features.

_How?_ Athena frowned. _The future can never be certain. Never…_

**I tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line. **

"… **an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities …" **

"Of course it would be pinned on Percy," Poseidon groaned.

**I backed away, trying to keep my head down. I had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere. **

**I'd almost lost hope of ever finding Annabeth and Grover when a familiar voice bleated,** "**Perrr-cy!"**

Bright smiles appeared on nearly every face in the room.

"They're all together again," Hestia confirmed happily, making everyone feel more at ease now.

**I turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug—or goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!" **

Poseidon and Athena glared at the thought.

**Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me.**

"**We can't leave you alone for five minutes! **

"Then never leave him alone again?" Apollo raised his eyebrows.

"Right," Hermes said, "like that's going to happen."

"Hey," he frowned, "I was trying to be optimistic!"

**What happened?" **

"**I sort of fell."**

"Sort of," Athena scoffed. "More like, 'plunged six hundred and thirty feet to his death!'"

"**Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?" **

"Exactly!" Athena exclaimed, glad to be on the same wave length as her daughter.

**Behind us, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. I recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"**

"Well," Hera said, "looks like the Mist didn't cover everything after all..."

"**Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."**

"**I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw me. "There he is! That's the boy!"**

"I think you should get out of there," Poseidon said.

"Run!" Hermes encouraged him.

**I turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Grover after me. We disappeared into the crowd.**

"**What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?" **

**I told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, my high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message. **

"**Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."**

"So he's excited to go to Poseidon's summons, but none of mine." Dionysus scowled.

"Well maybe that's because all the satyrs are afraid of you," Demeter mentioned the probable reason. "Just be nicer to them!"

"Meh…"

**Before Annabeth could respond, we passed another reporter doing a news break, and I almost froze in my tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. **_**And**_** the boy is believed to be travelling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."**

**We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley. **

"**First things first," I told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"**

"That should be obvious." Athena said, rolling her eyes.

**Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as the darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind us. **

"And that's the end of that chapter," Hestia sighed at the gloomy ending.

"Are you sure?" Hera frowned, "it seemed rather short."

"Yes," he replied, "that is all for now."

"Then I guess we have an hour off again," Hera sighed, "although I'm guessing there are some who wish to shorten this gap in order for us to get through the book quicker and to maintain our public image?"

"Well," Demeter sighed. "On the one hand I like the time off, but on the other, I keep asking myself do we really need it?"

"Fine, fine," Zeus sighed at this disruption. "Then we can either shorten it to thirty minutes each or an hour each two or three chapters we manage to read?"

"What would everyone rather?"

A lot of people sided with the first option.

"Alright then," Hera said, "we'll try this system out, but if there are complaints, it is open to some negotiation."

"Now," Zeus sighed, "you all have half and hour. After that, I expect you all back here promptly and without fail."

With that he vanished.

As the rest of the room's occupants began to leave for their hour break Aphrodite gathered her courage and slowly approached her husband.

Upon seeing her beginning to approach him slowly with her eyes fixed firmly on the floor, Hephaestus frowned slightly at her unusual behaviour. Although he loved her dearly, his anger, jealousy and frustration were still at the forefront of his mind, in which he was currently unsure whether he wished to be in her presence or not.

"I'm sorry," she said softly as she stopped a little distance from him, "for forgetting our previous plans. I'll try not to let it happen again."

A few moments of silence passed.

"Is that all?" he said stiffly after a minute of quietness.

"Yes," she went on, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for my attitude in general towards you. I –"

"Are you really?" Hephaestus returned dryly, his voice seeming emotionless and cold.

"Yes, I am!" she replied strongly. "I-"

"It's a little late for you to demonstrate any feelings of regret after thousands of years of bad behaviour, is it not?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I know it's a little late, but-"

"Or is it only this one occasion that you regret?"

"No, of course not!" she denied the statement. "I don't think you quite understand-"

"Because," he continued, paying little attention to her arguments, "if this apology is indeed a result of this one occasion, I struggle to see much value in it. Especially considering the vast number of empty words that have left your mouth in the past few millennia's that we have been together."

"Why aren't you listening to me?" she suddenly demanded angrily, her face burning red with frustration. "I'm trying to apologise –"

"And you just have apologised," Hephaestus pointed out. "But you see, my love, offering an apology and demonstrating true regret for what a person has done are two different things. Therefore, although you have apologised, I can neither see the proper amount of regret for your actions nor a significant change in your appearance to prove that a change has occurred in you."

"But I DO regret my behaviour towards you," she desperately pressed. "I know I don't know much about you-"

"Which is actually absurd considering the amount of time we have been together," Hephaestus sighed tiredly. "It truly portrays both your superficiality and your lack of care towards those around you."

"But I seek your forgiveness, just this one last time," she pleaded, "and I'll do better! I promise you that!"

"The amount of times that I have already forgiven you is equally absurd," he angrily continued. "And after every time you have continuously betrayed your vows, which have scared me physically and emotionally. As a result, I am left feeling confused and tired at your words now. What makes this time any different? Is it because you have finally realised that you love me?"

"It's because I can genuinely see what I've done wrong this time," she sighed, "and I couldn't stand the guilt I felt after I hurt you!"

She stepped closer to him, and moved to take his hand, "Hephaestus, I need you to give me this one last chance so that I can truly become a better person. And even if I don't love you, I finally feel like I could."

He ripped his hand from hers as he grimaced at her words.

"So," he said quietly, "you seek my forgiveness in order to have the opportunity to make yourself a better person, whilst stating very clearly that you do not love me… you really are a selfish being, aren't you?"

"I- what?"

"You want me to forgive you so that you can feel better about yourself? That's sickening to hear! You want me to give this farce of a marriage another chance knowing that you do not love me- that you never did!"

"But I feel that I-"

"You feel that you _could_ learn to love me," he sneered, a bitterness now entering into his voice. "But you see, '_could_' is a rather vague and indefinite term. I have no guarantee that you would _ever_ grow to love me, nor even that you would keep trying to love me. If I agree, there is nothing stopping you from giving up and sleeping with every other man who would be too blinded by your tits to notice anything else about you."

Aphrodite was in tears as she once again attempted to move closer towards him. "But-"

"Because that's what you always do!" he exploded, stepping back quickly to avoid her touch. "That's who you are! And now, for the first time, I think I've finally began to come to terms with it."

"Please," she begged, "just listen to me. I know I've treated you horribly, but it's not like I am the only one with demigod children!"

"Husband," she pleaded again, tears running down her face, "just give me one more chance!"

"Husband?" he frowned at the use of the term, "that's a joke! You have never allowed me to be a proper husband to you. Not once! Additionally, you KNOW that a god or goddess is required to produce at least a handful of offspring in their time on earth, to keep the balance of goo

d and evil in check. The reason why I have been forced to share a bed with mortal women is because I have been continuously banned from entering your bed! Whilst I feel no love towards these mortal women, I do feel the need to seek comfort and a source of communication from someone. In this sense, you have never been a good wife; as you say, you barely know anything about me, right?"

"I do love you-"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, darling," he sighed, "but isn't that a little contradictory to what you said but a moment ago?"

He shook his head violently in frustration, "You can't even keep up your lie of love. Not even now, when I so desperately need to believe in you…"

"Please," she whispered, "I have realised that-"

"Don't," he said softly. "It's done."

"What?" her eyes widened as her voice grew louder. "You can't mean that!"

"As we've never slept together," he glared at her, "I think I have the right to do so."

He took a calming breath before continuing, "I've never done so before as my love for you overpowered my hatred. But now I've had enough. I'm not going to listen any more to any of your previous pleadings of wanting to remain married to me, as you didn't want to sully your reputation. I've had enough of you playing with my feelings. I'm done."

"I-"

"The marriage is over."

"Is there nothing I can say to stop this?!" she yelled, trying to meet his fierce gaze.

"There is nothing you can say," he said simply. "After all, the majority of what you say is hot air and empty, superficial words."

"But there's something I can do?!" she pressed immediately. "Is there?"

Upon seeing him contemplating her words, she pushed him suddenly further. "Please, don't throw this away! Tell me what to do and I'll do it!"

"You almost make me want to laugh," he sighed unhappily. "Firstly, we have no happy memories to throw away, my dear. You never let us build any to cherish and enjoy."

He started walking away down the empty corridor when she once again pleaded her case.

"And the second reason?" she called, knowing that there was more that he needed to get off his chest.

He stopped.

"The second," he sighed, "is that I don't want to control you or tell you what to do. In my opinion, if I let you do that, the marriage won't be an equal one. It would be dominated by my will alone."

"But-"

"If you really want to change my decision," he looked back at her, not at all happy with himself for letting her into his heart once again, "then you're going to have to prove your love to me. Your actions are going to have to prove to me that you truly want to be with me; that you can actually love in the first place. You have three months to accomplish this."

"I'm not too sure what you want me to accomplish-"

"Exactly what I have just said," he repeated. "No complicated details - just prove to me you can do these things. That you can be loyal and caring and warm and I might reconsider my decision to walk away."

Before leaving her presence, he gave her some last words to ponder over.

"When I was younger," he began. "I thought you were very beautiful. Although your outward appearance was pleasing to the eye, your manner was pleasing to the heart. In your younger years, your days of innocence displayed a caring person who loved to please others and make them feel good about themselves. You used to be a person who strived to match people up with their soul mates in order to ensure that they have a good and happy life together. That's the person who I originally wanted to marry; the quiet dreamer with a fiery will."

She stared at him in slight shock as he continued. "You were beautiful inside and out, and I fell strongly in love with you. I thought that you could make me feel good about myself for once and in return I would look after and cherish you from anyone who was jealous or angry at you. But now I look at you and it breaks my heart.

"The girl who I loved so strongly is almost dead at my feet. In her place, I have this witch who is selfish, cruel and malicious. Instead of ensuring other people's happiness and wellbeing, she looks after herself and makes them miserable just to entertain her. She betrays people uncaringly and she never takes the effort to get to know those who should be held closest to her. And in my opinion, she's hideous. It makes me sick to look at her."

"I-"

"In conclusion," he sighed as he turned to face Aphrodite, "it is up to you whether you change or don't change. But don't pretend to be something you're not or I will make you regret it.

"Oh," he added before exiting the room, "before I forget, I took the liberty earlier of asking Athena if she fancied to accompany me to the ball earlier today, seeing as I had predicted you to be otherwise occupied. I hope that this act does not cause you to experience any inconvenience."

With that he walked away, leaving her alone and heartbroken at the result of the meeting.

_**(A.N. And there's the chapter. **__**How did you like it? **_____

_**You may have noticed that I've begun to add my own ideas and plots to the books now, which would be ultimately revealed and explored later on in resting periods and the aftermath. It's not necessarily changing the facts of the first five books; more like me using these facts to create my own text as a later book 6. At any rate, I'm still on the first book, so I have a while before I have to worry about all that **___

_**Hope you enjoyed, and message me if you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions that you feel you wish to share.**_

_**P.S. **__**I've had a lot of PMs of people who are either assuming or guessing that a certain couple will definitely end up being together and I generally thought they were really interesting!**_

_**However, I just wanted to point out that I'm eventually going to be covering at least all five books- so that's a lot of room for character's to fall in or out of love, or for me to introduce new characters. The main message I wanted to get across in this chapter is that anything can happen, so don't take anything this early on in the story as a solid fact, okay?**_

_**Besides, whilst I have some pretty solid character pairings in my mind, there are some that I've kept left open until very late in the series **___

_**So, I was wondering what the rest of you thought about the possible pairings so far? Can any of you guess yet my train of thought for this first book? Let me know in a review okay, and enjoy your day/night **___

_**T.T.F.N)**_


	21. Fuel to the Flames

_**(A.N. I was so tempted to leave this issue alone for a while and let it build up a bit more, but I don't think I'd have many fans left if I did that, so I hope you'll be happy when you read the start of this chapter. **_

_**So here you go, and I hope you enjoy **____**)**_

Chapter 21 – Fuel to the Flames

As Hephaestus left the throne room, Aphrodite had very little time to comprehend and process the events that had just occurred before Hades re-entered the throne room at a quickened pace, looking far more moodier than usual.

Upon noticing Aphrodite, her uncle's pace slowed considerably as his eyebrows rose in slight surprise and suspicion before he moved to sit down upon his throne or, in his case, a makeshift chair built for two.

"Mmm," he pondered at the sight of her, "wouldn't have thought that you'd be one to turn up here early…"

Silence met his comment as Aphrodite tried to curl up in her own throne, attempting not to cry in front of her uncle.

"Indeed," he carried on, "if you were one of your siblings I would have asked you what sort of devilish trick you had done, or are currently about to do to be here at this moment…"

A slight noise of distress left the love goddess at her uncle's words, making him slightly smirk.

"You're being pretty quiet too," he mused. "Again, this is not like you. What's wrong, ruined one of your new pink dresses or something?"

She frowned hard at her uncle's train of thought who, in turn, had a brief glance at her red and puffy face before he was almost blown away with her words. "I am not that shallow as to be this upset over something as trivial as a stupid dress!"

She turned to herself and cried, "Why can't anyone see that?!"

"Maybe," Hades frowned, not expecting this occurrence to unfold and not sure whether to believe her words or treat them as another example of a temper tantrum, "if you hadn't have reacted the same way in the past to someone wrecking your appearance like that I wouldn't have felt the need to make the assumption…"

Aphrodite angrily turned to him, where he could clearly see her splotchy face, "I'm sorry for that! I was young and stupid and that's what I thought life was!"

"What?" Hades' frown deepened, not understanding the working's of his niece's mind, "your appearance?"

"I –I don't know!" she wailed, "I thought if you looked good, sounded good, had good looking friends and a fabulously looking boyfriend then you'd be the happiest person ever – that everyone would love you and respect you for taking the time and effort to respect yourself that's all anyone ever needed! I tried to give that to people-"

"Well," Hades said harshly, "that's hardly respecting yourself then, is it?"

"Huh?" she said tiredly, struggling to catch the meaning of his words.

"You just said that you had to have a good appearance to respect yourself. Well, that's complete bullshit right there."

"H-"

"And don't say huh, again," he warned her sternly, "or I'll have no choice but to think that you are nothing but a shallow airhead that can only think about herself after all."

"I-"

"Because only a shallow person who's only interested in herself can think that a person's outward appearance is all that matters. There's more to a person than that! You can never tell whether the most beautiful person in the world is the kindest or the worst just by her or his looks –you're going to have to get to know them first, because you have their personalities, quirks, skills, professions and character traits to sort through first! So what you just said was bullshit."

"I- I know," she whispered sadly. "To make it worse, I think I've known for a while-"

"Then why hasn't your behaviour altered," Hades questioned, "to fit your mental thought pattern?"

"Because I didn't want to accept it," she said.

"Accept what?" Hades said, confused.

"I didn't want to accept that I was wrong," Aphrodite replied miserably, "because that would've meant that since I took on the profession that father gave me I've always been wrong- that I've been making myself and so many other people unhappy…"

"You've never seemed to be unhappy with the way you act," Hades observed as she sighed.

"Because I've never wanted to admit to be unhappy," she said, "at times I felt so lonely and empty when I was with some of the people-"

"The 'superficial and/or fake' friends?"

"Y-yes," she sighed, "and I just wanted someone there to keep me company, where I could relax around him and not have to try so hard to be perfect all the time … who'd love me for myself and not for my beauty. Someone who I could actually have an interesting conversation with…"

"Someone you could love, then?" Hades prompted her. "Someone like your actual husband, perhaps?"

She sobbed, "I think it's too late for that!"

"Why?"

"H-he said he wanted a divorce…"

"He can't have one," Hades said simply, "even though you've failed to conceive a child together, there's no way that Hera would allow him to leave you after all the time that you have been living together."

"We've never consummated the marriage though," she said quietly, and Hades' eyes widened with shock.

"At all?"

"No."

"Mmm," he said, "and I suppose that was all your decision?"

"Yes," she said quietly, "I always found a way o-out of it."

"And now that he's finally making the decision to leave you and the loveless marriage –which he should've done CENTURIES ago," Hades looked disappointed in her, "you suddenly want him back? That's rather selfish of you…"

"I love him," she said simply. "I've finally realised that."

"But he's so ugly," Hades goaded her, making a slightly exaggerated impression of her past self's words of hatred and spite.

"But I love him," she said. "His kind personality, his patience, everything."

"What about Ares?" Hades inquired, "I don't think he'll be too happy to share you with another immortal for a long period of time."

"Ares and I are done," she said simply. "I want nothing to do with him anymore."

"Eros and Harmonia would be so upset to hear that," Hades said sarcastically.

"Harmonia's disapproved of my actions in the past," she sighed, almost to herself. "I've known that for a while also. But I have to leave him alone."

"Do you honestly think you'll be able to?" Hades scoffed, "you've been with him for as long as you've been with Hephaestus."

"It's high time I do," she said. "I don't want to be that person anymore. I want people to respect me as a person, to take what I say into consideration for a change- to think I'm important, like Athena."

"There is NO way," Hades stated bluntly, "that you could be like Athena."

"I don't mean intelligent wise," Aphrodite sighed, "I meant that I wish people would respect my profession the way they respect hers."

"Ahh," Hades said. "Then, in order to do that you need to find some self respect first."

"Yes," she nodded at that. "That's why I have to start treating the people who I'm meant to help the same way that I want to be treated – like I used to do a long time ago. Instead of mocking or playing with their love lives I'm going to help them find happiness and comfort."

"You do that," Hades addressed her directly, "and I'll believe you, and think you're a bigger person for it."

She smiled, "it's the only way forward for me that I want to take."

"Then hopefully," Hades told her honestly, "if you do that, then Hephaestus will come back to you."

Her smile brightened, "thank you, uncle, you've been so kind to me."

"I guess that's one word for it," he frowned as she hugged him tightly.

"I'll never forget it, I promise!" she smiled, her mind firmly fixed on what she now had to do to change her life around.

"Alright, alright, now get off me," he said uncomfortably. "With any luck you might be his partner in the upcoming ball if you act fast enough."

"Oh," she sighed, "that I can't do as he's already told me he's taking Athena."

"Huh, that bitch," he mocked her, with a little tenderness in his voice now.

"It's alright," she sighed, "it's my own fault."

"So who are you going to go with?"

"Definitely not Ares," she vowed, "I'll physically stop myself from going before that happens. I'll make myself ill…or pick a fight with someone, or something."

"Well," he said, "I doubt any of those options are going to work. Therefore, you're unfortunately going to have to decide who you're going with before the start of the next meeting."

"Why?"

"That's when Hera wants to know," he replied, "so she can know who to put down on the initiations and programme."

"Oh, okay," she said, a little troubled. "I have two more minutes, so I guess I should go and use them to try to find a way out of it then."

"You do that," he said, settling back into his throne, looking a little sullen.

"And by the way," she said before she left, "how did you know that Hera was going to ask that in this session? I didn't think you cared much for the upcoming ball?"

"I don't," he growled, "but Persephone and Demeter do."

"Demeter?" Aphrodite smiled, "that's nice to hear, though I'm not sure who she's planning on going with."

"Not Apollo, in any case," he answered grumpily.

"Oh…," she said, mentally checking him off the list of the possible substitutes she could ask to go in Ares' stead, "because he's going with?"

"Persephone," he sulked.

"Huh?!"

"Apparently Demeter asked Apollo if he could go with Persephone before we started reading the books," he sighed, "because she intensely dislikes –or disliked –me and thought Persephone would find something agreeable in the family's doctor."

"Agreeable enough that she'd want to try to get father to let her be with him instead?" she guessed by Hades' furious look that she guessed right. "Well, that sucks!"

"It does indeed," he said bitterly. "My only consolation is that she is slightly sorry for it now, after we've recently started to get along better with one another for Persephone's sake."

"So," she sighed, "it looks like you're stuck without a partner too...I wonder if Hera would let us go by ourselves, or let us off sick or something?"

"You know perfectly well," Hades said grumpily, "that she'd assign us partners if we don't have one already."

"I REALLY don't want to be stuck with Ares," she sighed, "that would not help matters at all between Hephaestus and I…"

"And I don't want to be stuck with Demeter all night complaining about my past and future failures…"

They looked at each other before the others started to re-enter the room.

"So," Aphrodite said quickly, "do you want to go with me?"

"Kay."

_**(A.N. There you go **___

_**The next chapter is quite a long one, which is why I decided to make this scene its own chapter, rather than have one overly long chapter which would take longer to write. **_

_**T.T.F.N.)**_


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